Lido Arcade: Site of proposed giant gold twin towers in Surfers Paradise going on the market
A developer who has a greenlight to build two giant twin gold towers in central Surfers Paradise has made a big call on its future. Read the latest on the key site plans
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A group which planned to give the ailing heart of Surfers Paradise an adrenaline shot has moved to sell the properties where it also dumped plans for a billion-dollar venture.
Funds manager EG, which in 2022 canned plans for twin towers called Wanderlust on a $42 million holding between Surfers Paradise Bld and Orchid Ave, has changed tack as it tries to unload its holding.
The 5264sqm site is occupied by three retail and office centres and EG has decided to sell them individually after failing to sell the parcel as one lot.
They are two properties that were glamour ones when they were built in the late 80s - Paradise Avenue and The Forum - and the far older Lido Arcade.
EG in 2022 sought to unload the complete 5264sqm as one parcel.
It has left that option open in the latest sales push, which involves an expressions of interest campaign via CBRE’s Mark Witheriff and Colliers’ Steven King.
Wanderlust was to involve towers of 71 and 51 floors and to provide a five-star 400-room hotel, 700 apartments, and 270 serviced apartments.
The approved development was to have shops, restaurants, a rock-climbing wall, outdoor gymnasium, pool and snooker rooms, and restaurants.
The project also was to include the Wanderlust Pool Club, which was intended to attract world-class DJ and entertainment acts to Surfers Paradise.
CBRE’s Mr Witheriff said the three centres that make up the EG site were ‘under-utilised’.
He said the properties came with demolition clauses, tenants were on short-term leases, and the centres were extremely under-rented.
“The individual centres will provide significant value-add potential for new owners via repositioning and refurbishment.”
The Forum includes a five-level office building and the two- floor Paradise Avenue has offices on the upper level.
Colliers’ Mr King said the EG sell-off came at a time of unprecedented demand for inner-city office accommodation, as demonstrated by a 15-year low vacancy rate of 6.4 per cent and high rental rates.
The Forum and Paradise Avenue were built by the Raptis Group, with the Forum completed in 1987 and its neighbour a year.
The three-floor Lido Arcade, built in the early 1960s, has apartments above shops.
Expressions of interest in the EG holding close on June 27.
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Originally published as Lido Arcade: Site of proposed giant gold twin towers in Surfers Paradise going on the market
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