Sanbano Southport tower to rise 51 storeys over Gold Coast
A 51-storey apartment block with 555 residential units, offices, a medical centre, café, restaurant, commercial services and shops will help kick start the Gold Coast property market.
It’s the third high-rise tower to be approved in the past six months, and the council is reportedly considering two other major proposals.
The $100 million Sanbano Southport (pictured below), on the corner of Rawlins and Nerang Streets, will comprise a single storey tower above a basement and four-level podium.
It will have retail and commercial space and 481 car parking spaces, including some spaces dedicated to a car-sharing arrangement.
It will be built by Gold Coast Development No. 2, a subsidiary of Beijing-based Australia-China United. The firm is also building and managing a 25 level high-rise apartment in Coolangatta called Sanbano Coolangatta. Development consultancy Eastview Australia is managing both projects. Director, Graham Goldman, says the group is showing a “genuine commitment to the Gold Coast”.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the tower would transform this section of Southport. “This development is fantastic news for the city. Not only will it create an estimated 350 jobs during construction, it will really revive this area of Southport,” he said.
“It also gives greater credence to our proposal to make Southport our official CBD and will add vibrancy and vitality beyond the current 9 to 5 business hours.”
Gold Coast apartment prices are trending upwards after falling 30% in 2011-12. But there have been early signs of market improvement in the second quarter of this year.
Riding the tide of this improving market, Sanbano architect Raith Anderson, project director at architects DBI Design, told Fairfax media that offshore developers saw the area as ripe for opportunity. He said developers in China – who are backing the Sanbano tower – as well as Singapore and Taipei, saw ‘’a lot of value in the Gold Coast market’’.
In May, Cr Tate announced a plan to classify Southport as a priority development area (PDA). If accepted by the State Government, it would be the first PDA for Queensland encompassing a CBD.
The Sanbano Southport tower’s units will be a mix of bedsitters up to three bedroom units. There will be 467 square metres of retail floor space and 924 square metres of commercial floor space. Mr Anderson said the apartments were aimed at investors and would appeal to first-home buyers.
The chair of Gold Coast City Planning, Councillor Cameron Caldwell, said the development was significant in terms of its location.
“It will be just 200 metres from the light rail station and obviously close to the retail heart of Southport,” he said. “These are the kinds of developments that bring confidence back to business and to the community.”
The latest housing market report from Australian Property Monitors shows the Gold Coast is on track for ‘’a modest’’ revival in buyer activity. The median price of Gold Coast units is $370,000 compared with a nationwide median of $421,000.
Construction of Sanbano Southport is expected to begin in the first half of 2014, following the marketing of the project.