Nalu: Former Nobby’s Outlook complex at Miami to be redeveloped after $70m sale

One of the Gold Coast’s biggest beachfront units blocks is set to be dramatically redeveloped after it was sold for $70m. FIND OUT MORE

One of the Gold Coast’s biggest beachfront units blocks has sold for $70m, with its new owner set to redevelop it for luxury housing.

Monaco Property Group has snapped up the 46-unit, two-storey Nalu complex, formerly known as Nobby’s Outlook, in one of the biggest sales for a beachfront property in recent years.

It was previously owned by Paul Solomon, a Melbourne-based executive of Moose Toys who bought the site for $23.75m in 2017.

Aerial photo of the Nalu site, formerly known as Nobby's Outlook, which has been sold for $70m to Monaco Property Group. Picture: Supplied.

The 7238 sqm site, which fronts Miami Beach on Marine Parade and sits directly below Magic Mountain, is now earmarked for redevelopment.

The company, led by partners Jonathan Grasso and Jay McPhee, are expected to lodge plans with council soon on its new project for the site.

The building will be redeveloped.

“We’re extremely excited to have secured Nalu, one the best beachfront development sites on the eastern seaboard of Australia,” Mr Grasso said.

“The site is not only one of the largest beachfront development sites on the Gold Coast, but its position overlooking the beachfront and proximity to the heart of Nobby Beach provides a truly unique opportunity for our team to create an incredible residential development that will be a legacy for years to come.

Nalu has sold for more than $70m.

“We are very excited to be working up plans for a truly world class project on such a unique site with an incredible 80 metres of beach frontage, which is certainly a rarity on the eastern seaboard of Australia.

“It’s a property that locals know well, which is why we have decided to retain the name Nalu as it reflects the vision we have for this property.”

Nalu is Hawaiian for “wave”.

It was most recently revamped in 2018.

The scope of any development on the site will be restricted by the area’s 15m height limit.

The unit complex was built in 1966 and was long ruled by a body corporate of its owners, who used the units primarily for holiday rentals.

The sale and redevelopment plans are the latest step in a saga around the site’s future which began more than 40 years ago.

The complex has changed hands several times.

Numerous developers attempted to buy all of the units through the 1980s and 1990s but failed to get all the owners on board.

Sunland Group made a high-profile bid in 2010 to buy the site for $40m and build a luxury nine-storey tower.

However a single owner – Brisbane businessman Scott Lawes – refused to sell, scuppering the deal.

The building was built in 1966.

It sparked a long-running legal battle which ended in the District Court in 2014 and when all parties agreed to sell, however Sunland abandoned the deal and walked away.

Expressions of interest opened on the sale, with the REIQ at the time valuing the land at $19m.

Some of the unit owners expressed mixed-feelings at the time.

The 2017 auction, which Mr Solomon won, attracted a significant number of prominent developers, including Leda boss Bob Ell, Barry Morris and Peter Fahey.

Mr Solomon went on to commission a multimillion-dollar revamp to restore the complex to its 1970s-era glory and renamed it Nalu.

“We’re going over every part of it. The resort will be like brand new but have that old charm that we all liked,” he said at the time.

Originally published as Nalu: Former Nobby’s Outlook complex at Miami to be redeveloped after $70m sale