Cienna: Developer’s big step forward on Southport hole in the ground

The future of a giant empty hole in central Southport, which was one tipped to become an 88-storey supertower, can now be revealed. FIND OUT MORE

There’s a ‘hole’ story behind a small for-sale sign that’s appeared on fencing around a Southport development site owned by a Singaporean group.

An arm of the Lee Kim Tah group has been sitting on the Nerang St site for more than 20 years.

The land is known as the ‘hole in the ground’ – it’s home to an eight-metre deep excavation that took place more than 30 years ago to make way for tower basements.

Nine years ago the Singaporean group, after slightly enlarging the site, had ambitious plans to install the city’s tallest building, one of 88 floors, with a 40-level one next to it.

Cienna development, an 88 storey/40 storey two-tower development planned for Southport

They gained preliminary approval for their ambition but nothing has happened since then.

Not that the site hasn’t made the news. The walls of the hole started to crumble in 2019 and workers moved in to shore them up.

Two years ago two chaps in their 20s fell into the hole, one suffering a head injury and another rushed to Brisbane with suspected spinal injuries.

Efforts to find out what has prompted Lee Kim Tah’s move to sell the land, held via company Cienna, have been fruitless.

A call to the Sydney number on the little sale sign prompted the query from a Lee Kim Tah staffer: ‘Are you a real estate agent?’

A request that someone respond to the call was not met.

Cienna development, an 88 storey/40 storey two-tower development once planned for Southport

The call was to pose two obvious questions – why sell after such a long period of ownership and how much money does Cienna want.

It’s not as though Lee Kim Tah appears to need the money.

The group’s development adventures have seen it develop hotels, shopping centres, and residential buildings in Asia and London and apartment blocks in Sydney.

Perhaps Lee Kim Tah is hoping that a contender who misses out on the Star of the Sea site overlooking the Broadwater in Southport might give them a call.

That vacant holding is three times bigger than the ‘hole’ site and could sell for more than the near-$34 million paid by its Chinese owner.

The 4400 sqm hole-in-the-ground site, which fronts Nerang, Garden and Young streets, cost the Lee Kim Tah group nearly $7 million and was bought in two parcels in deals a decade apart.

Inside the hole Picture Glenn Hampson

The major part of the site is a result of a dive into Southport by former Qantas steward Patrick Nicholson and Adelaide car dealer Ken Eustace during the late 80s property boom.

They bought a 4361 sqm holding and built a three-level commercial block on the eastern portion.

The remainder was excavated in preparation for a 13-level retail and office tower.

A mortgagee took control of the ‘hole’ in 1991 and sold it to a company believed to be linked to pop star the late Michael Hutchence.

Veteran Brisbane developer Neil Miller bought it for $2.55 million in 2002 and flicked it to Cienna at more than twice that less than 18 months later.

Neil, before his exit, had touted a 26-floor building called Centro, with the top floor devoted to a glass-enclosed area with 360-degree views and where residents could socialise and exercise.

Lee Kim Tah in 2015, after getting a green light for its 88 and 40-floor buildings, decided not to reach for the sky and aborted its plan.

KNOW WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM

Ruth and Tom Tate. Picture David Clark

Mayor Tom and wife Ruth bought the home, close to the Nerang River in Commodore Drive, for $3.55 million in 2018 and sold it two years later for $4.5 million to a fellow called Raja Sawhney.

Raja, after trying to sell the house since 2022, has had a buyer step forward with a contract for $6.4 million.

The Tates, who have owned several properties at Paradise Waters, have called a $4.25 million one in the exclusive locale home for the past nine months.

OWNER IS NO BOZO

Bozo Bugalugs, according to official property records, has become the owner of a two-level commercial property in Southport’s Ferry Rd after shelling out $2.88 million.

Something obviously went haywire in the registering of documents because Bozo does not exist – the true buyer of the one-time drying-cleaning business property is not an individual but company Bozo Bugalugs Pty Ltd.

That ‘Bozo’ is owned by Travis Shultz, a personal injury lawyer who runs a legal practice in Mooloolaba and already has a Gold Coast base, at Robina.

Bozo Bugalugs was the nickname for son Ashton, now 16, when he was a small kid.

REAPING HARVEST

Nick Polities, 82-year-old Sydney car dealer, has added to his Gold Coast interests with a $4.4 million buy just up the road from his Porsche dealership in Southport.

The Sydney Roosters NRL chairman and former Ipswich Grammer student has bought a 2800 sqm property at the western end of Harvest Crt that’s been in the family of the late Fred Morris for decades.

Nick, who also owns the Jaguar and Land-Rover dealerships in Southport, is getting income from the property, which is occupied by nine showrooms and four factories.

Originally published as Cienna: Developer’s big step forward on Southport hole in the ground