Mayor Ron Clarke announced today that a 7000sqm block on Cypress Avenue in Surfers Paradise, currently home to a car-park, is slated as a possible new green space area.

The move is still subject to Council resolution, and would not take place until after part of the site was used for the construction of the future Rapid Transport system, but it would answer growing calls from residents and business alike to improve the amenity of Surfers Paradise by adding more open public space.

Mayor Ron Clarke has announced that the $25m redevelopment of the Surfers Paradise foreshore is due to commence on the first of February.  The project will begin with work on the northern strip between Elkhorn Avenue and the Cavill Avenue mall.

Plans include a 20m wide pedestrian promenade and bikeway, as well as new landscaping, amenities, beach shelters, BBQs and seating.  The area has been designed to more effectively link Surfers Paradise with the beach, and provide a better venue for events, like the New Years Eve fireworks.

Despite a 2.3% fall over 2009, the median house price in Surfers Paradise ($1.3m) has come in as the highest in the stage.  On the national scale Surfers Paradise only ranks at 54 – with the exclusive Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove dominating the list with a median house price of $5.4m.  Sydney’s Bellevue Hill and Vaucluse rounded out the top three at $3.25m and $3.16m.

Mermaid Beach, which includes ‘Millionaire’s Row’ Hedges Avenue experienced a 26% fall over the same period, to come in 2nd on the Gold Coast at $1.08m.

A twin-tower mixed use development has been given the green light for the 1.18 hectare site bordered by Ferny, Oak, Palm & Norfolk Avenues, in Budds Beach, Surfers Paradise – alongside the proposed light rail link.

The approved plans, designed by international architecture firm KPF, comprise of a 30 & 53 storey tower, incorporating 238 hotel suites and 327 apartments, as well as an open piazza with commercial, dining and retail space.

At this stage, no time-frame has been put forward for the development – nor have Thakral announced which hotel operators it is considering to manage the property.

In a move that will open up one of Surfers Paradise’s last major development sites, Brisbane investment company Cromwell Group has put a 5200sqm site – consisting of the Lido, Paradise and Forum Arcades up for an expression of interest campaign.

The site, adjoining the Surfers Paradise Hilton construction site was purchased in 2006/07 in two deals for approximately $50m.  Cashed up Sunland are believed to be considering the site for a future high rise.

Following the recent launch of Victoria Towers in Southport – their maiden development on the Gold Coast – South Korean developer, City Plan Partners are waiting on Council approval for a 715 apartment, mixed use development in northern Surfers Paradise.

Having acquired the 1.1 hectare site from Raptis & City Pacific-linked company Cira International for $33m, CPP are hoping for approval for a pair of towers, 55 and 40 storeys each, as well as ground floor retail & dining space on the block bounded by Surfers Paradise Blvd, Ferny, Ocean & Pandanus Aves.

CPP Hope to launch the project late this year, and feel that with a recovering economy and few competitors currently on the market the project will be wll recieved.

Local developer, Howard Group, whose previous work includes Sphere at Southport and the upmarket Vogue on Broadbeach, has placed a pair of development sites on the market.

The larger of the two, a 1.1 hectare 23-parcel property near Pacific Fair in Mermaid Beach was amalgamated at a cost of approximately $20m over the past five years.  Originally slated for the proposed Broadbeach Lifestyle Centre, incoroporating four towers and a mixture of residential and commerical space, the site is positioned well to take advantage of the future Rapid Transit link.

The other site, located on the Esplanade in northern Surfers Paradise is slated for a luxury 23-storey residential building.  ‘North Point’, set on nearly 1000sqm of land was to incorporate 20 3 bedroom apartments, plus a palatial penthouse.

Howard Group have cited a strengthening market as the reason for the sales, feeling that they stand a better chance of realising the value they have added to the sites at this stage.

After months in limbo, the jointly Foresight Acquisitions and City Pacific-owned Pacific Beach site in Surfers Paradise has reported been sold.

A Chinese consortium beat local developer Sunland to the property – but at this stage a price has not been disclosed.

The 11,000sqm site on the corner of Wharf and Old Burleigh Roads is the largest beachfront site amalgamated in recent years and the sale represents a significant expression of confidence in the local market.

Whether the Chinese group will continue with the existing approved development plans or apply for changes is not yet known.  One interesting fact is though: The group has obtained approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board to sell 100% of the project to overseas buyers (as opposed to the usual 50%) – suggesting that they plan to make a considerable number of sales in their home market.

After weeks of bitter legal battles, Balmain Trilogy has been awarded control of City Pacific’s First Mortgage Fund after the Federal Court handed down a ruling on the matter.

While the move will directly affect the unit-holders in the $630m Fund, it also raises questions about the future of City Pacific’s real estate holdings: most notably King Tide on Broadbeach Boulevard and the Pacific Beach beachfront site on Old Burleigh Road.

With the significant interest bill taken into account the two sites are estimated to owe the company in the vicinity of $220 million.  The Pacific Beach site has been on the market for several months and it has been widely speculated that King Tide will follow.  However, given the current state of the Gold Coast property market and the relatively small buyer pool for large development sites, any sale of either of these sites is likely to represent a significant loss.

In another milestone for the $1bn Southport-Broadbeach Light Rail project, the State Government has committed to the project.

The current schedule has surveying work beginning late this year, with tracks due to be laid from 2011.  The first passengers are expected to climb on board in 2014.

Tenders will be put out into the private sector to secure an operator for the Light Rail system over the  next 18 months.

The tram line will run from the Griffith University Hospital in Southport, (which is currently under construction) through Southport and Surfers Paradise and terminate in Broadbeach.