Next Stage of $1.5bn Gold Coast Masterplan Revealed

Australia’s oldest private developer, Lewis Land Group, has submitted plans for the second stage of a $1.5-billion residential masterplan at the northern end of the Gold Coast.

The private developer, owned by the Lewis family, is proposing three 12-storey, apartment buildings across a portion of a large greenfield site it is currently developing at 564 Oxley Drive in Biggera Waters.

The project’s second stage will offer 250 apartments, wellness amenities, 5000sq m of communal space and two levels of basement parking for 440 cars. 

Lewis Land Group said it will target owner-occupiers, offering two, three and four-bedroom configurations across the Cottee Parker-designed buildings.

Two of the buildings will be topped with rooftop pools and private dining rooms to take advantage of the expansive views towards the coast and Surfers Paradise, while the third will have a ground-floor swimming pool, barbecue space and private seating pods.

Lewis Land Group chief executive Matthew McCarron said that, pending approvals, sales were expected to be launched soon and construction under way by year’s end.

“We are targeting a 5-star Green Star Certified community for this development through a range of environmentally focused initiatives, including energy and water conservation and resident wellbeing programs,” McCarron said.

“[This masterplanned project] will generate up to 5000 jobs over the next 10 years.”

▲ The ground floors of each of the buildings will provide expansive amenities including pool barbecue and private seating pods. Image: Cottee Parker

The development application, now before the Gold Coast City Council, forms part of a broader sixteen-stage masterplan, known as Harbour Shores across a 15.7ha canal-front site.

The developer has long held plans for the vacant site thanks to its location opposite the Gold Coast factory outlet-style mall, Harbour Town, which was developed by Lewis Land and opened in 1999.

Harbour Town, in which Lewis Land Group still retains a 50 per cent stake, was recognised as the first outdoor retail centre in Australia and remains the largest.

McCarron said the Oxley Drive site, touted as the last remaining large-scale, greenfield waterfront development site on the Gold Coast, had been developed following a competitive design process involving some of Australia’s leading architects and landscape designers.

Once realised, the masterplan will offer 2000 apartments, villas and penthouses that will eventually be home to more than 4500 residents.

The site will have more than 1.4km of water frontage along the widest canal frontage on the coast, providing boating access to the Broadwater and on to the ocean. 

The masterplan will also feature tennis courts, multiple swimming pools and resident facilities including public space including park and children’s playground, retail and commercial space, private and casual marina berths and a public waterfront walkway.

As part of its first stage, the developer plans to build 30 BDA-designed buildings, ranging between two to 12 levels, tiered from the canal frontage back to Oxley Drive. The first stage will also include a 1ha park, and retail and food space.

The group, founded by the late property pioneer Bernard Lewis in 1957, is now owned by his daughters Marnie Lewis-Millar and Shay Lewis-Thorp.

▲ The project's first stage is being developed on canal-front land on the eastern side of Oxley Drive. Image: BDA Architecture

Over the past 40 years, Lewis Land Group has developed more than 2600 lots across eight residential developments on the Gold Coast, including the blue-chip Sovereign and Ephraim islands. 

The group also has a retail platform, with two large outdoor outlet centres—Harbour Town Gold Coast and Harbour Town Adelaide—as well as further residential developments including a large land subdivision in the works near Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast.

Late last year, Vicinity Centres bought a $358-million half-stake in Harbour Town Gold Coast. Lewis Land Group continues to manage the property while Vicinity now undertakes all leasing activity.

The developer has been quick to move on developing the large Biggera Waters site as the supply of new apartments on the Gold Coast continues to sink to record lows, with increasing construction costs and consistently strong demand likely to push prices higher.

According to data from Urbis, 411 new apartments remained for sale at the end of the March quarter—the lowest number since the consultancy firm began monitoring records in 2014.

Based on the current quarterly sales rate, the Gold Coast has just 3.3 months of supply remaining.

Median apartment prices on the Gold Coast have risen 16.7 per cent in the past 12 months to $595,000, but in some coastal suburbs those prices have averaged $1 million.

In Biggera Waters, the median house sale price is now $1.1 million after surging by 37.3 per cent in the last 12 months while the median unit price is $500,000 after a 16.3 per cent spurt over the same period.