Towering dream waits for the builders to come to the party

Despite a shortage of builders, Tim Gurner is pressing ahead with the first tower of his $1.7bn island resort-themed Gold Coast residential precinct, La Pelago.

An artist’s impression of the Gold Coast residential development, La Pelago.

Entrepreneur Tim Gurner is pressing ahead with the first tower in his $1.7bn Gold Coast residential precinct, La Pelago, and the island resort-themed project will have Australia’s first St Regis hotel.

The first stage of apartments sold out within 10 weeks, but Mr Gurner, like other developers on the Gold Coast is having difficulty sourcing a builder.

Further south, he has been busy with plans for an $800m, 34-storey two-tower landmark on the doorstep of Sydney’s Barangaroo, adding to projects that include the Saint Moritz project in Melbourne’s beachside St Kilda.

On the Gold Coast, the $350m in sales have given him confidence at a time of turmoil in the area. At the upper end, super-luxury apartments are trading, as show by the recent sale of a three-storey penthouse in Burleigh Hill’s Glasshouse building for a record $20m.

Property developer Tim Gurner. Picture: Aaron Francis

But ructions in the building industry are causing construction delays and price escalations on key projects. Mr Gurner is not immune and is in talks to lock down a builder for the tower project.

Gurner Group has sold 354 of its Resort Residences, within La Pelago, to a mix of wealthy local residents and an emerging class of travel nomads who split their time between homes in Australia and abroad.

They are just the start with the higher, more expensive levels billed as potential record breakers.

“Final designs and inclusions for the future Crystal Club and Penthouse Collections are still being resolved by Gurner’s design team, however prices are likely to range from $1.5m up to roughly $25m for the larger penthouse residences,” Mr Gurner said.

They are yet to be formally launched and will sit on levels 43–65.

La Pelago is planned to reach for the sky.

Mr Gurner said the early sales success showed the demand for the luxury project. “La Pelago has been envisaged as a private island resort … we have taken our cues from the very best hotels, resorts and global beach clubs to emulate a level of private service and luxury that is only accessible in six-star resorts, and applied it to a residential setting,” he said.

He says interest in the project is global.

“We knew we were creating something special, and our sales to date prove that these elite buyers understand the level of opulence La Pelago will offer and have simply been waiting for something of this standard of luxury to become available,” he said.

Despite difficulties in building on the coast, Mr Gurner is bullish about the potential for projects which offer unique luxury touches. “We have been humbled by the incredible response from the market to La Pelago and it just shows that product with a real point of difference is in huge demand in Australia,” he said.

An artist’s impression of how the front of La Pelago is expected to look.

But they must offer something different. In this case it is the luxury island feel at a time when few such resorts are being built in Australia.

Locking down a builder will be the next step as private projects are competing for workers against major infrastructure projects.

“We are in detailed conversations with a tier-one build contractor around the right time to finalise a tender for the works before we commence construction, taking into account the amount of government work in the market right now and whether or not those infrastructure projects progress to live projects,” he said.

Mr Gurner is confident it can be done. “We expect to gain clarity by the end of this year and will look to commence construction as soon as possible in 2024,” he said.

“We know by the early sales success that the depth of market is there and we are eager to bring future stages of the precinct to market as soon as reasonably possible.

La Pelago will have a distinctly resort feel.

“The recent sellout of our Resort Residences reaffirms this and we believe that the upper echelon of the market has significantly more depth, particularly the luxury travel and expat set who have multiple residences globally.

“We are only hampered by the big builders’ capacity to take on a project of this scale and look forward to having a way forward shortly.”

Services at the project will include a full-time concierge, a valet, a chauffeured limousine and airport transfers. Personal trainers, a yoga and pilates trainer, an on-call doctor, and a facialist are also on tap, as well as a luxurious Chairman’s Lounge to relax in – and there are also local touches like surf lessons.

The Resort Residences will sit on levels four to 34 of the 65-level tower, which will be followed by the St Regis hotel.

La Pelago has been designed by architects Warren & Mahoney, with interiors by Gurner’s in-house interior design team led by Italian designer, Simon Brugaletta.