Southern developers make a beeline for the Gold Coast

A raft of Sydney and Melbourne developers are snatching up landholdings along the Gold Coast’s middle and southern beaches, as demand for high-end apartments in the region grows.

With 12,000 Victorians and 18,000 Sydney-siders last year fleeing north in pursuit of a better lifestyle post-pandemic, developers are now following suit with the hopes of capitalising on what is becoming an ever growing demand for housing in the region.

Antonio Mercuri, director of GV Property Group, which has been involved in several recent transactions, said it was no surprise that the Gold Coast had caught the eye of forward-thinking interstate developers.

“Not only does the Gold Coast offer developers an opportunity to transform beachside sites, but the area also offers incredible value,” Mr Mercuri said.

“The pandemic has also caused a dip in interest from international developers, which has opened the market for more interstate buyers. With the Gold Coast undergoing regeneration, developers can afford to push project boundaries further than they would in their home states.

“We look forward to see how the developers draw on their own cities to bring fresh design approaches and diversity of product to the local area.”

At present it is the middle and southern Gold Coast suburbs of Palm Beach, Broadbeach and Coolangatta that are attracting the bulk of the interest.

Gerard Adamsons, group director of Melbourne developer New Sky Group, which purchased a site on the highway at Palm Beach, said that the booming southern Gold Coast market had further growth potential.

“We’ve witnessed insatiable appetite from buyers locally and from the southern states snapping up apartments off the plan at very buoyant rates and volumes, which gives us great confidence to be trading in the Gold Coast market,” Mr Adamsons said.

“With overseas travel likely to be restricted for the foreseeable future, we believe that the Gold Coast real estate market will shine as an attractive destination to live and invest,”
he said.

Jared Johnson of Harcourts Coastal Commercial said interstate developers had helped to shore-up the local market and keep sales rolling in.

He said the influx of interstate developers looking to acquire sites on the Gold Coast was probably the biggest key factor in the industry at present.

“A lot of the biggest commercial real estate transactions that are happening have been development-type sales and we would expect that to continue,” Mr Johnson said.

• Sydney’s Abadeen Group has bought 26 Mawarra Street, Palm Beach, off market from local developer Cru Collective for an undisclosed sum through Gold Coast-based GV Property Group, which has brokered many of these transactions. Cru-Collective paid $3.3 million for the site in 2019 and obtained DA approval for 69 two and three-bedroom apartments and a retail offering. Work on the project, called Villea, is due to start this month, with presales under way with CBRE. Only two-bedroom apartments remain, starting at $675,000.

•  Melbourne’s New Sky Group jumped at the chance to grab an 818sq m holding at   1203-1205 Gold Coast Highway, Palm Beach , within a week of it being presented to them by GVPG for $6.5 million with a short five-week settlement. Formerly the site of the Surf ‘N’ Sand Motel, New Sky bought the landholding with a DA in place for 29 apartments and will look to fast-track the planning of a new design.

•  In Broadbeach, Sydney-based Macquarie Developments Group bought a 1235sq m corner block at 15 Rosewood Avenue for an undisclosed price, with settlement expected this month. The site, zoned as high-density, was sold with a DA in place for 186 apartments over 39 levels, but Macquarie Developments Group will relodged a submission with a view to delivering a higher-end product through a reduction in the number of apartments.