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PROLIFIC developer Aniko Group has unveiled plans for a $lbn, four-tower mega project next to the Gold Coast’s biggest shopping centre.

The resort-style project is earmarked for a 1.1342 ha site at Seaview Ave next to Pacific Fair and the Broadbeach public transport hub and will provide more than 1000 units for the city’s depleted stocks.

According to plans which will be lodged with the Gold Coast City Council later this year, the “micro-community” which will border Broadbeach and Mermaid Beach, includes a “premium” master-planned residential, hotel, water-front dining and office development.

It will have four towers of 25, 30, 40 and 45 storeys respectively, which will include more than 5000sq m of premium commercial office space.

Aniko Group managing director George Mastrocostas said: “Mermaid Beach has become the Gold Coast’s most dynamic beachside suburb, and this development will create a new beating heart for the area.” he said.

“We have developed a scheme that includes an activated ground-floor waterfront fine dining precinct that will elevate our resident and visitor experience.
“Stepping up off the ground into commercial offices provides a supply of new office space that the area has been seeking.”

“Capping off the scheme is a residential offering harnessing the incredible sight lines across iconic beaches into the open ocean and the hinterland, while residents and visitors will be just a short stroll from an array of Gold Coast beaches.”

The company recently bought the Seaview Ave site for $30m in a deal was negotiated by CBRE Gold Coast managing director Mark Witheriff.

It is the latest twist in the long history of stalled attempts to develop the prime site during the past two decades.

Developer Mark Howard in the late 2000s pitched plans for a $300m lifestyle centre which was to have a $170 million 40-storey tower at its heart, including 132 apartments, cafes, restaurants, a medical centre, and office space.

However. Mr Howard’s companies were placed in receivership in April 2012 and he successfully sold it for $20m to Singaporean group Ho Bee Investment.

The company never announced any intention to develop the site and finally put it on the market in April 2017. However, it failed to find a buyer despite several expressions of interest campaigns.

The Mermaid Beach project is the latest by the Southport-based Aniko, which has rapidly become one of the Gold Coast’s best-known developers in the past five years.

It is the company’s second development outside of Hope Island where it has spent more than $500m in the past four years. In May Aniko filed plans for a $100m, 21-storey luxury tower on Chevron Island’s Weemala St.

The 1000-plus units planned for the project comes at a time when multiple independent reports and property industry figures warning of a dramatic undersupply in residential units and office space.

The Gold Coast’s population is growing by more than 15,000 people annually, while the median house price now sits just below $lm.

The housing crisis is only worsened as the rate of tower development on the coastal spine slows on the back of skyrocketing construction costs which has sparked predictions that one in five high-rises currently before council will never be built. New Property Council of Australia data showed Gold Coast
office vacancy rates fell from 10.1 per cent to 8.1 per cent in the six months to July, the lowest level since 2007.

Mr Mastrocostas said the unconditional sale of the land meant the project would allow construction to begin sooner rather than later.

“Being such a significant project, our design team is taking a considered approach to create a standout development in an increasingly discerning market.” he said.

“A site of this scale would normally take years to amalgamate, but we are now ready to go with a development that will create a vibrant new coastal community and leave a legacy that we believe will stand the test of time.”

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Written by Andrew Potts. Originally published by Gold Coast Bulletin
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022