Iris Capital Lodges Surfers Paradise Tower Plan

Prolific Sydney developer Iris Capital is dipping deeper into the red-hot Gold Coast apartment market, lodging plans for a “premium” residential skyscraper in Surfers Paradise.

The 38-storey apartment tower, planned for a narrow 900sq m site at 73 Garfield Terrace, will be known as 71 on Garfield.

The project site is at the Broadbeach end of Surfers Paradise, half-way between Yuhu Group’s Jewel and Q1, the world’s 11th-tallest all-residential building.

Iris Capital, led by Sam Arnaout, snapped up the site in July from construction tycoon Mick Power for $30 million, equating to $20,000 a square metre—a new benchmark for larger beachfront sites in Surfers Paradise.

The developer’s proposed DBI Architecture-designed tower lodged with the Gold Coast City Council would replace The Premiere, an eight-level oceanfront apartment block with a 20m beach frontage.

The owner-occupier-targeted development will feature just 52 apartments with two apartments per floor planned for the lower half of the building and a two-storey “beach house”.

It will be capped with nine full-floor apartments, one double-level “lower” penthouse and a double-level “upper” penthouse. The latter will feature five bedrooms and its own private rooftop area.

The project has been designed for buyers looking to embrace the larger apartments and a new level of coastal sophistication, according to DBI’s design statement.

Demand for Gold Coast apartments—especially larger, more luxurious residences—has surged since the start of the pandemic, driven by demand from downsizing owner-occupiers and interstate buyers taking advantage of the rise of work-from-home.

The tower will be built above six levels of basement parking for 115 cars, accessed via a planted arbour on the southern side of the site.

It will feature communal facilities on level two and an elevated recreational podium on level 24—featuring a pool, gym, sauna and a residents’ lounge.

Residents at the top of the building will be offered additional “in-home” amenities—each apartment between level 25 to 34 will have its own plunge pool facing the ocean.

The venture marks Iris Capital’s second significant play on the Gold Coast in recent months after unveiling plans for an $800-million, two-tower project in Broadbeach in September.

At the time, the developer signalled its medium-term intentions to begin pivoting away from apartment construction in Victoria.

The massive mixed-use redevelopment is planned for the landmark Niecon Plaza site which it purchased for $58 million in early 2021 from the family of late seafood king George Raptis.

Its proposed mixed-use development, known as Victoria & Albert Broadbeach, will feature two residential towers rising 30 and 40 levels and more than 330 apartments. It will also include 5458sq m of retail, dining and office space over two levels.

The east tower, The Albert, will comprise 114 two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments over 30 levels while the west tower, The Victoria, will rise over 40 levels and deliver 219 apartments of one, two and three bedrooms.

The projects will both be on a stretch of land between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach which has recently been awash with site acquisitions and high profile development applications.

At 7-9 Northcliffe Terrace, veteran Queensland developer David Devine is planning a $340-million residential tower with 108 apartments across 38 levels after forking out $45 million for the 2251sq m beachfront site of the 14-level Surfers Royale.

Nearby, Sydney-based Sammut Developments in partnership with Alceon also has plans to deliver a $200-million, 35-storey tower with 49 apartments on the site of the ageing 10-storey Garfield on the Beach at 43 Garfield Terrace.

Melbourne’s most prolific apartment developer Central Equity also has unveiled plans for a 56-storey apartment tower after amalgamating 19 titles to create a 3259sq m block on the corner of Garfield Terrace and Frederick Street.

Meanwhile, billionaire Queensland businessman Brian Flannery and his wife, Peggy, have been quietly staking their own sizeable beachfront claim in a property play totalling almost $20 million.

It includes the Kuleena apartment complex at 27 Garfield Terrace and two other buildings to the north spanning a combined 2026 square metres.

As well, Harry Triguboff’s Meriton hasrecently lodged plans for a dual-tower development at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast just as it puts the finishing touches on its neighbouring skyscraper, Ocean.

The 637-apartment development is planned for a 4400sq m site at 152 The Esplanade.