Jewel, set for Surfers Paradise skyline, seeks hotel operator looking for a Gold Coast gem
Jewel – the Gold Coast’s most ambitious property development to be given the nod – is searching for a prestigious hotel operator for the $950 million three-tower project.
A short-list of operators is shrouded in mystery, but the preferred operator should be known by March.
Although the Gold Coast is well supplied with luxury hotels, it is yet to attract the ultra-luxe brands such as Aman, Peninsula and Shangri-La hotels.
Gold Coast developer RDG, which is backed by the Chinese property giant Ridong Group, has moved into gear to get the plan underway.
“We have the DA approved and are currently negotiating some of the finer points with the council. Our main focus now is to secure a hotel operator,” says RDG chief executive Steven Haggart.
Jewel will be on the corner of Wharf and Old Burleigh roads, Surfers Paradise.
It will have a six-star hotel with all of the attendant restaurants, bars, pools, gyms and all of the shopping expected of such an operation. There will also be two residential towers, one of of 35 levels and one of 45 levels.
It will also have a spa, beach club, ballroom and a two-level recording studio, which was inspired by the Setai Hotel in South Beach, Miami, where Lenny Kravitz has branded the property.
According to Haggart, contracts for off-the-plan apartment sales will be ready by November this year.
“We want to be able to take the apartments to market by the end of this year,” he says.
For such a premium plan, the apartments are modestly priced, starting at about $800,000 for a two-bedroom unit.
“Jewel will be like an island with its own beachfront and without being surrounded by KFCs. We are pricing it realistically for the local and international markets and providing excellent quality,” says Haggart.
About half of the units are tipped to be sold offshore while 30% are marked for interstate ownership and the remaining 20% for local Queenslanders.
RDG expects to announce the builder for the project later this year, with demolition tipped to start in March 2013 and completion slated for summer 2015-16.
