Melbourne developer Central Equity tipped to build highrise opposite Surfers Paradise beach
AFTER a couple of false starts, Melbourne’s largest developer of apartments looks set to add some new blood to the Gold Coast highrise scene.
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AFTER a couple of false starts, Melbourne’s largest developer of apartments appears poised to add some new blood to the Gold Coast highrise scene.
Central Equity for several years has owned a development site across the road from the beach in Surfers Paradise.
Plans in 2007 for an apartment tower were spiked by the global financial crisis.
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Earlier this year the company had the 811sq m site for sale but with the market more vibrant, it appears to have changed its mind.
A few weeks ago the company erected hoardings around its Garfield Tce site showing drawings of a tower and naming Brookfield Multiplex as the builder.
Then, a piece of adjoining land came on the market and was sold to an unnamed buyer three hours before an auction.
The word in the marketplace is that Central Equity is the buyer but the company won’t confirm that.
In just under 30 years the company has built projects worth billions of dollars in Melbourne.
It was a listed company from 1987 to 2006, delisting after a lean development run.
Central has kicked on strongly in the past few years, chalking up net earnings of nearly $76 million last year.
The directors who control the company, German-born former accountant Eddie Kutner and former teachers Dennis Wilson and John Bourke, are described as the pioneers of the new inner-city living lifestyle in Melbourne.
They started Central Equity in Melbourne’s Southbank when it was a backwater and the company, which has branched into housing and land estates, still has much of its focus there.
The developer in its early days was not renowned for the quality of its buildings but latterly it has sharpened its act to the point where its projects are award-winners.
Its Gold Coast ambitions appear always to have been for a high-end product.
When it acquired its Garfield Tce site it did so via company Luxe Private Residences, Luxe being a word that can mean elegant or sumptuous.
The tower was to have whole-floor “residences” and multi-level penthouses.
Its plan ended up in court, with the city council unsuccessfully objecting to Central’s intention to fell two large Norfolk pines to facilitate a larger basement carpark.
At the time then-councillor Susie Douglas said the Central site was too small – “it’s not much bigger than a tennis court”.
If, as suggested, Central last month bought the adjoining site, its holding has doubled in size and it probably will go back to the design drawing boards.
That could mean a taller tower, more apartments and perhaps larger apartments.
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