Developers Abedian and Co buy back major Gold Coast site The Lanes after previous owner’s collapses
A pair of Gold Coast developers have pulled off an extraordinary property boomerang, repurchasing the massive retail site they once owned after a billion-dollar vision crumbled.
Developers Soheil and Sahba Abedian have pulled off one of the year’s biggest surprise property deals, buying the shopping centre site they sold for more than $45.8m just four years ago.
The pair, via their Abedian and Co outfit, bought the giant Lanes site in Mermaid Waters from receivers following the collapse of its previous owner, Panthera Mermaid.
The price has not been disclosed but it is understood to be less than its 2021 sale price.
Soheil Abedian, speaking for the pair, was tight-lipped about the company’s plans for the site but vowed to deliver on the vision created by his former company, Sunland, to build a boutique retail village.
“This is a block of land which is fundamental to the future urban planning of the Gold Coast and we are delighted to have the chance to have it and create something which is for the benefit of the city as a whole,” he said.
“We cannot comment at this stage with regards to the design but we will work with all stakeholders, including the Gold Coast City Council, to ensure that an appropriate outcome is achieved and that the vision of the site which was conceived by Sunland hopefully is delivered.”
Panthera Mermaid, an entity linked to Panthera Group CEO Mario Evangelo, collapsed in September.
The company bought the proposed shopping centre development site from its original owner, Sunland Group, in 2021.
It unveiled its own controversial $1bn version of the project, to include residential towers, in March 2025 but the project was never assessed by the council.
Liam Healey and Quentin Olde of Ankura, the receivers and managers of the site commissioned its sale via Colliers.
“After a competitive sale process run by Colliers which generated significant interest, the receivers are pleased to have exchanged a sale contract with Abedian and Co,” Mr Healey said.
Colliers Gold Coast director in charge Steven King said there had been strong interest from buyers around the country.
“As the site already has development approvals in place, our team fielded an extensive number of inquiries from local and national developers looking to gain a foothold in this transformative Gold Coast project,” he said.
Key tourism hubs intersect with the city’s fast-growing residential areas to the north south and west of Mermaid Waters.
“As we expected, expressions of interest for this offering were highly competitive and received from parties in the development industry of an extremely high calibre.”
It is the latest twist in the story of the planned shopping centre, which was first proposed in December 2017 for a site on the corner of Bermuda St and Hooker Boulevard.
Sunland at the time announced a $200m two-level centre which would have 80 shops, cafes, restaurants, a fresh food hall, health and wellbeing services and cinemas across 17,000sq m.
Construction was tipped to begin in early 2019 with a Christmas 2020 opening.
The company initially focused on building four residential towers which were later completed.
Plans for the shopping centre were dramatically redesigned in late 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw shopping centre patronage plummet.
The second version of the proposal was to see it cost $82m, while more than 10,000sq m of retail was dropped from the site, including a cinema.
Council approved the centre in February 2021 but ground never broke.
In October, Brett Frizelle, speaking on behalf of the precinct’s largest landowners which also include Gold Coast Titans owner Rebecca Frizelle and former Titans co-owner Daryl Kelly, said they would enforce their legal rights to stop any future developer from trying to build residential towers without their permission.
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Originally published as Developers Abedian and Co buy back major Gold Coast site The Lanes after previous owner’s collapses
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