Sandpiper: Twist in future of well-known ageing Broadbeach tower

There’s been a twist in the tale of a prominent Broadbeach tower which was at the heart of a major legal battle. WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE

A Taiwanese bubble-wrap kingpin has bought a prominent Broadbeach tower which was at the heart of a major legal battle.

Robert Hsu’s Pollycell company has bought the Sandpiper tower for $45m and is planning to demolish it and to make way for a 51-story supertower which is in the early phases of design.

“We anticipate submitting a development application to the Gold Coast City Council in the coming months and launching the new building’s pre-sales in early 2026,” a company spokeswoman said.

The Sandpiper building

Pollycell said it would build the Sandpiper replacement after it completes construction of The Rodchester tower on Surf Parade in late 2027.

The purchase is the culmination of a two-year process to buy up all the units after Mr Hsu in 2023 secured a controlling stake in the tower.

The deal was brokered by BuyGC Buyers Agents principal Gavin Henry.

While we were contracted to work on behalf of PolyCell Group, we were able to build confidence and provide favourable terms with Sandpiper’s sellers, which proved essential in closing the site’s acquisition,” Mr Henry said.

The Sandpiper tower, on Old Burleigh Road, was built in 1980, with some of its original owners still among its residents.

Sandpiper was previously the target of a $71m redevelopment by Melbourne developer Trenert Group before it walked away in 2023 after a legal battle with developers Dean Giannarelli, Ross Pelligra, Paul Pelligra, Petros Dimitrious and companies associated with them, who had also bought up several units in the complex.

Sandpiper is located on a key Broadbeach site.

The Bulletin reported in 2022 that Sandpiper Developments – a company linked with Trenert and its managing director Peter Priest – had settled purchases of at least 12 apartments in the tower and had contracts with owners of another 15.

However the settlements ultimately did not proceed after the company walked way from the project.

Mr Hsu spent $15.5m to buy the units from Mr Priest in mid-2023.

The news comes just months after Pollycell unveiled plans for another beachfront supertower.

Pollycell lodged plans with Gold Coast City Council in December 2024 to build a 59-storey tower on the site of the Voyager timeshare resort.

Artist impression of the proposed Pollycell tower in Broadbeach.

The existing tower would be demolished to make for the new mega structure, which would become the suburb’s tallest building at 211m and will have 130-units containing 381 bedrooms.

It would stand on a 2070sq m site directly between the Oracle towers and the beach views, and is the second tower to rise in the space alongside the under-construction Luxe.

Voyager was built in 1983 by Melbourne barrister Harry Schmelling.

Mr Hsu bought the site in 2022 for $45m in a deal brokered by Kollosche Commercial’s Adam and Tony Grbcic.

He beat out billionaires Harry Triguboff and Bob Ell, both of whom were interested in the site.

It was the last piece of an $81m spend on Broadbeach property by Pollycell following the pandemic.

The company spent $12.15m on a site fronting Britannia Ave and Surf Pde and a further $22.5m for a Queensland Ave property.

Originally published as Sandpiper: Twist in future of well-known ageing Broadbeach tower