DEVELOPMENT spending in the Gold Coast’s tourism hub of Surfers Paradise is slightly down this year but the region’s light rail project is expected to reignite activity, according to research from Colliers International.
There is $8.572 billion worth of development either planned or under way in the area, which includes Main Beach, Budds Beach, Isle of Capri, Chevron Island, Bundall and Benowa.
The current spending figure has fallen $801.2 million or 8.5 per cent from last year’s spend of $9.373 billion, and is down from the spending high of $11.227 billion in 2008.
Colliers International Gold Coast research manager Lynda Campbell said the fall in spending over the past year could be largely attributed to the completion and subsequent removal from the development pipeline of the $850 million Soul project.
“There were also a few smaller projects that were completed, including the $10.7 million Cavill Mall upgrade and the $35 million Energex network upgrade,” she said.
“Meanwhile, two (developments) were added to the pipeline, both of which were apartment projects at Main Beach — namely the $35 million Main Beach Parade project and the $6 million Woodroffe Ave project.”
Colliers International Gold Coast director in charge Stewart Gilchrist said the $1.8 billion Gold Coast Light Rail project was well under way through Surfers Paradise and was likely to ignite development along its route.
“Developers are already looking at potential sites along the route,” he said.
“Apartment or mixed-used developments, in particular, are likely to spring up on the light rail line. Council wants to encourage more people to live close to the light rail and developers will identify the opportunities there for increased density.
“There is a need for developers to build affordable unit stock, around the $500,000 mark and under. At the moment new apartments are priced much higher than that, but the availability of stock in the cheaper price range would be met with buyer demand.”
The apartment sector is already where most of the development in the Surfers Paradise area is taking place — $3.661 billion is in the pipeline across 15 projects. The mixed-use sector comes in second, with $2.5 billion worth of development in the pipeline. This is followed by the infrastructure sector, which has $2.259 billion worth of development in the pipeline, and the commercial sector, where just $152 million in development is in the pipeline.
The biggest development project in the pipeline is the $2.5 billion Gold Coast Marine Development Project, which is proposed for The Spit at Main Beach.
The $1.8 billion Gold Coast Light Rail project comes in second in terms of monetary value, followed by the $950 million Jewel apartment project in Surfers Paradise and the $800 million apartment project on Ferny, Palm, Oak and Norfolk Avenues in Budds Beach.
Mr Gilchrist said Surfers Paradise was undergoing significant renewal, and would be almost reinvented when the light rail project was completed. “It is no secret that the light rail project has caused some disruption, particularly to the suburb of Surfers Paradise, but when it is completed it will draw more people in, and with more development likely, the suburb will be transformed,” he said. “On top of this project, the redevelopment of The Esplanade and Cavill Mall have been completed over the past few years, and this has contributed to the refreshed feeling in the area.”
Main Beach follows closely behind Surfers Paradise in terms of the amount of development spending, with $2.556 billion in the pipeline across four projects.
Budds Beach has two projects in the pipeline worth a total of $850 million and Bundall has seven projects in the pipeline worth $479 million, while Benowa, Isle of Capri and Chevron Island all have only one project in the pipeline, all of which are worth less than $100 million.
Ms Campbell noted the majority of projects in the Surfers Paradise area were still in the planning stages.
