Change Rising at Glitter Strip ‘Oasis’ as Shovels Hit Dirt

The view across the Nerang River from Kate Madison’s Bumbles Cafe at Budds Beach says it all. “I’m looking at 13 cranes right now on Chevron Island,” she says. “That’s a lot—even for this part of the Gold Coast.” By that, she means Surfers Paradise—the famed skyline of which is made up of about half of the city’s 800 or so mid and highrise buildings. Spanning slightly more than 6sq km, it includes Chevron Island and Budds Beach. However, in stark contrast to the pin cushion of cranes adorning its island neighbour, as you turn the bend into Budds Beach along River Drive it’s akin to entering a development timewarp. It was changes to the city’s planning scheme in 2016 that jolted developer focus across the river, with an unlimited building height zone designated on Chevron Island. As a result, the city’s constant creep of highrise development during the past decade has leapfrogged Budds Beach. Which is ironic given that over the past 25 years its eclectic Bumbles Cafe is where some of the Glitter Strip’s biggest development plays have been hatched. ▲ If the walls could talk ... Bumbles Cafe at Budds Beach. Its loyal clientele includes a who’s who of Australia’s billionaire developers as well as rich-lister property investors and high-flying real estate agents. “If my walls could talk they’d have a lot to say,” Madison says. “But I still sell everyone coffee for the same price—there’s no premium for my billionaires.” One of those billionaires is her landlord, Leda Holdings founder and executive chairman Bob Ell, a Budds Beach resident who she describes as a bit of a development gatekeeper for the neighborhood. Ell has spent millions of dollars acquiring property in the enclave—including his favourite breakfast spot. “His home is like a hospital, it’s gigantic, but he doesn’t want closer neighbours,” Madison says. Officially, under the Surfers Paradise Local Area Plan, there is a prescribed development line in the sand along Oak Avenue—a block back from the riverfront. Only buildings up to two storeys are allowed to its west. To its east, however, there are several residential tower sites that have sat dormant in the wake of the pandemic due to construction-cost escalations and other prevailing industry challenges. ▲ McNab executive chairman Michael McNab and a rendering of the under-way Elements ( also pictured at top ). But with shovels hitting the dirt last week for the first development at Budds Beach in more than a decade, all that may be changing—and with it, the tranquil pocket often described as one of the Gold Coast’s hidden gems. Queensland-based builder and developer McNab’s $170-million Elements tower is to rise 28 storeys from a 1012sq m corner site at 21 Oak Avenue. The scheme designed by Cottee Parker Architects comprises 87 two, three and four-bedroom apartments—of which sales have been strong, with off-the-plan contracts secured for 70 per cent of the lower level units. “Look, when we first looked at the site six years ago, a few people said to us, ‘What are you talking about? This isn’t a great site’,” executive chairman Michael McNab tells The Urban Developer . “I get why they were saying that … but Budds Beach is incredibly tightly held, with very few properties exchanging hands in the past five years. “And once you see it for yourself you can understand why. We’ve always looked to position our projects in areas loaded with lifestyle and on the cusp of growth. Budds Beach delivers on this.” He also says there is more interest in off-the-beach product—one or two streets back—than there ever has been. “But you still need the views … and from this site, that view up the Nerang River into the hinterland is stunning and it can’t ever be built out.” ▲ Tightly held, ideally located: Budds Beach on the Gold Coast. To that end, McNab’s Elements has been deliberately designed to almost turn its back on the bustling heart of Surfers Paradise—much like the Budds Beach residents themselves, who two years ago started a push for the area to be declared a suburb in its own right. “It is the hidden gem people say it is,” McNab says. “Surfers Paradise is there but it’s not there. It’s got its own identity and I think it’s a great little spot.” Of course, he’s not the only one. A couple of doors away, Tim Russell and Mark Taylor’s Aura Holdings has an approval in hand for a 23-storey, 94-unit vertical retirement village. Initial plans for a 32-storey tower were scaled back and, more recently, another reworked scheme has been filed for 82 apartments across 21 storeys “to enhance the viability and feasibility of the retirement accommodation”. Designed by O’Neill Architecture, it is earmarked for a 2130sq m site at 25-27 Oak Avenue and 8-10 Acacia Avenue. Key changes include the removal of all one-bedroom units in favour of two and three-bedroom apartments, reducing basement parking from three levels to one and increasing the podium from two storeys to four. ▲ A rendering of Aura Holding’s 23-storey, 94-unit vertical retirement village. Meanwhile, down the road, all is quiet on Melbourne-based developer Tim Gurner’s supersite spanning an entire Budds Beach block bounded by Oak, Ferny, Norfolk and Pine avenues. Gurner pounced on the 1.3ha holding in 2019 after Sydney-based developer Ralan Group collapsed with debts of more than $560 million. The site was acquired with an approval for 1000 apartments that was subsequently superseded by a Warren and Mahoney-designed scheme for a lavish $1.7-billion four-tower resort-living precinct dubbed La Pelago. As yet, despite $350-million in presales across its 65-level first tower, not a sod has been turned on the project—a joint venture with investment house Wingate. In late 2023, Gurner announced he was “now working exclusively with a tier one contractor to finalise a price so we can start construction” but also noted “labour in Queensland is still in short supply due to the unprecedented pipeline of government infrastructure projects”. But according to fresh whispers around the tables at Bumbles Cafe, it is speculated the project has been “put to sleep” and won’t be riding the city’s latest wave of development. That by no means would surprise Michael McNab. ▲ A rendering of the Gurner scheme slated for a Budds Beach block. The vacant site remains undisturbed. Having delivered his previous Gold Coast project—the $90-million, 33-storey White Main Beach—through the thick of the pandemic fallout, he is acutely aware of the challenges of getting a project out of the ground in the current development landscape. “That was really tough—it was heavy lifting,” he says. “Certainly, if you’ve talked to any builder in the last five years on the Gold Coast … it’s just been about getting the things bloody well finished without losing too much money. “And look, we’re in a really strong financial position—always were, always will be—but it was not a lot of fun. That’s why I’m excited about Elements. The project’s feasible, it’s bankable and there’s some good money in it.” Nevertheless, he says, construction-cost escalations continue. “We’re seeing escalation settle but it’s still there. It’s more predictable but it’s still there. So we’re really focused on working with our subbies and suppliers. “And everyone in the industry talks about collaboration but it’s more than that … it’s financial collaboration in a way that I’ve never done before and, I’ve got to say, it takes away the adversarial approach and it’s a bit of fun.” Elements is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2027. No doubt between now and then there will be quite a few orders for caffeine fixes from Kate Madison’s Bumbles Cafe. Having lived in the area since the mid 1970s and seen the city’s skyline rise rapidly around her, Madison is philosophical and far from phased by the towering designs developers now have on her slice of paradise. “If you want to live in a sleepy hollow you buy in Beaudesert not in Surfers Paradise,” she says.

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