Developer Files Plans for $160m Gold Coast Tower

Gold Coast businessman and hotelier Bruce Donnachy has lodged plans for a $160-million residential tower for a beachfront property he currently owns at Main Beach.

The 21-storey project, planned for a 900sq m site at 3571 Main Beach Parade, would replace a modern three-storey townhouse.

Donnachy put together two titles to create the site at a cost of $7 million over 12 years.

The proposed 24-apartment development, designed by local architects BDA, will be targeted at the interstate owner-occupier market.

The tower will offer two three-bedroom apartments per floor between levels three and nine and one per floor between levels 11 and 18. It will be topped with a two-level, four-bedroom penthouse.

A wellness centre and communal pool are also planned, for level 10.

Donnachy joins a swathe of local and interstate property groups currently sweeping up sites on the Gold Coast in order to put up apartments as they look to take advantage of rising demand for new apartments and a looming under-supply of stock.

Record sales of new apartments, especially larger residences, have been driven by demand from downsizing owner-occupiers and interstate buyers taking advantage of the shift to work-from-home.

On a neighbouring site, at 3640 Main Beach Parade, Spyre Group has plans for 13 three-bedroom apartments and and two split-level four-bedroom apartments within an 18-storey tower.

Polites Property Group and Descon Group Australia are also moving ahead with a 32-storey residential tower, dubbed La Mer, at 3580 Main Beach Parade. The $95-million tower will comprise 29 full-floor, three-bedroom residences.

Nearby on Cronin Avenue, a Gold Coast developer Drew Group has plans for a $250-million dual tower residential development across seven neighbouring sites before the Gold Coast City Council.

The project is planned for the 4300sq m site—the largest single site offered in Main Beach since the 1990s—after the developer amalgamated the properties for a combined $20.5 million between late 2019 and early 2021.

Further south in Broadbeach, Brisbane-based developer Turrisi Properties has similarly scaled plans for a $100-million, 22-storey residential development at 9-11 Armrick Avenue before the council.

Broadbeach Luxe Development, headed by director John Kubatov, has recently launched its six-star, $160-million residential project at 2 Charles Avenue, comprising 28 apartments.

Iris Capital has also joined the Gold Coast property rush, lodging plans for a $800-million, two-tower project at Broadbeach’s Niecon Plaza site.

The project will comprise a total of 333 apartments across its 30-level and 40-level towers, both topped with two sub-penthouses and a penthouse.