Harry Triguboff eyes new Gold Coast site as Meriton battles NSW planning

Citing planning approval issues in NSW, Meriton chief Harry Triguboff is readying to buy another big development site in southeast Queensland.

Meriton founder Harry Triguboff: ‘For many years our politicians attacked units. According to them people wanted only cottages (houses). Of course, that is nonsense.’ Picture: John Appleyard

Multi-billionaire developer Harry Triguboff is readying to buy another big development site in southeast Queensland, reckoning that it is too difficult to win planning approval on the vacant apartment sites he controls in his home state of NSW.

Mr Triguboff’s Meriton Apartments is well advanced on the construction of a 700-unit block in Surfers Paradise as unit sales pick up.

“We are on the 55th floor and we have another 20 floors (of construction) to go. We are also going to buy another block of a similar size in Surfers,” he told The Australian in an interview.

“I am buying another block in Surfers, that is because here in Sydney I can’t get approvals.”

The partially-completed Ocean development at Surfers Paradise is 40 storeys higher than any other tower on the Gold Coast strip, with uninterrupted views from all its apartments.

“In Sydney we can only buy bargain (sites) which are always hard to get. The state government must lobby the federal government to bring migrants, students and workers (back), that is how Sydney was built and will be built. Because this (lack of students and migrants) is the biggest problem for Sydney.”

In a wide-ranging interview Mr Triguboff said land tax is three times higher in NSW compared with Queensland but unit prices had dropped because of the lack of migrants and student buyers. He believes governments should be encouraged to bring them back.

He said more office workers would return to their workplace if there were more apartments located closer to city centres.

“The important thing to understand is that Sydney needs units badly,” he said. “It is very costly for the government to build the infrastructure for houses. (But) the infrastructure is already there for units.

“The reason that people want to work from home and the offices are empty in the CBD is because we built many offices in the city but very few apartments near the city. We must now allow more apartments to be built closer to the city, because that is where the people want to live. And if they live so close to the city, offices will be saved and they will not insist on working from home,’’ he said.

“For many years our politicians attacked units. According to them people wanted only cottages (houses). Of course, that is nonsense …”

A Meriton building under construction at Southport. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Triguboff is fighting off the NSW planning department’s attempts to add extra amenities to apartments such as additional storage facilities, in a move which he says will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars extra per unit.

“We now have a planning department that wants to deliver extra special units which

makes the cost of building a unit very high. The planning department came up with plans to make units at least $300,000 more expensive than now.

“The authorities should try their ideas when the market is buoyant. The unit market is only now improving so please don’t try out new ideas.

“The arrogance of the planning department is incredible. The less they approve the more arrogant they become.”

He said rents are still 10 per cent below previous levels and were not rising because interest rates have come down and many Meriton tenants are buying units instead of renting.