Coolangatta Apartment Development Seeks New Heights

Plans for a 72-apartment residential development spanning 13-storeys in Coolangatta has been lodged with the Gold Coast council.

The apartment block would stand 43.5 metres high and span a 1,524sq m block at 7-11 Miles Street.

Gold Coast local Adam Lacey, director of development company Lacey Group, is attached to the applicant name, LGOC Nikkiville, on planning documents lodged with council, and has entered into a put and call option on the Coolangatta sites with the involved landowners.

The town planning assessment report, prepared by Urbis, says the developer is pushing for a 50 per cent height increase for its apartment project, with the current building height code at 29 metres.

The sites are currently occupied by three separate single-storey residential developments.

The project will comprise 35 two-bedroom apartments, 35 three-bedroom apartments, 2 three-bedroom townhouses and 107 car spaces across two basement levels.

Plans show the Plus Architecture-designed project will incorporate “urban wall art” that will stand five metres in height.

According to the architect’s design response, “urban art has been found to be very successful in creating identity” noting that local artists are to be selected to create the piece.

The 9-11 Miles Street site had hit the market earlier this year in March.

Real Specialists Commercial agent Brad Duncalfe says the southern Gold Coast precinct—stretching from Burleigh Heads through to Coolangatta—has been an active market throughout the pandemic.

“It’s been extremely popular, with enquiries from southern buyers and developers. For developers in that mid-density range stock, they are still able to secure pre-sales.”

The Gold Coast-based Lacey group is behind a range of projects in the area, including a six-storey development comprising 20 apartments at North Kirra, and a 33-dwelling estate at Currumbin Waters.

Lacey is also the son of surf lifesaving champ, Peter Lacey, who was also a well-known property developer.

Recent approvals in the area include The Kirra Beach Hotel, by KTQ Development, which will comprise three towers of a maximum 15-storeys in height.