Former Socceroo Pitches Second Bilinga Scheme as Height Rules Shift

Former Socceroo striker Alex Brosque is taking a second shot at the Gold Coast’s luxury infill boom, lining up a luxury nine-storey play along a fast-evolving beachside strip. The proposal would deliver a stack of 13 apartments on a 759sq m site at 129 Golden Four Drive, Bilinga—opposite the Gold Coast Airport. It comes four years after Brosque—who also captained A-league club Sydney FC for five seasons—pitched plans for a seven-storey, 11-unit development just two doors up the road. The scheme slated for 133 Golden Four Drive was given the green light by the City of Gold Coast in late 2022—a decision that was challenged by neighbouring property owners in the Planning and Environment Court but subsequently upheld. Brosque has lodged his latest Gold Coast property play through a development entity that also lists construction firm Emicon director Pierre Saab as a director. It marks another slice of Bilinga that is poised to make way for the march of midrise infill along the beachside strip. If approved, the proposed tower would replace an ageing beach house on the site. “Although ... houses remain in the area, a trend of redevelopment is continually emerging, typified by more compact forms of residential development,” a planning report prepared by Zone Planning Group said. “Building forms in this locality vary in age, height, scale and architectural character. There is an eclectic mix of dwelling typologies ranging from fibro shacks of the 60’s and 70’s to contemporary beachfront homes. “Generally, the stretch of Golden Four Drive provides a diverse range of development outcomes. “The Bilinga local context is continually experiencing a transition of development form from older style detached dwellings and apartments to mid to high-rise multiple dwellings … consistent with the built form parameters afforded by the City Plan, specifically height and density, which encourages infill development to occur.” Designed by Broadbeach-based BDA Architecture, the proposed tower would yield a mix of 10 three-bedroom units and three full-floor four-bedroom apartments. ▲ A rendering of the nine-storey scheme proposed for 129 Golden Four Drive. Lifestyle amenities would be divided across two levels—76sq m of communal open space on level 1 with dedicated residential dining and outdoor seating, as well as a 230sq m rooftop terrace featuring a spa pool, fire pit, outdoor barbecue dining and sun deck. With no basement levels, parking space is planned for 29 vehicles on the ground level via car stackers. Notably, with the proposed tower rising to a total height of 33.25m—more than 10m above the site’s prescribed height limit—the scheme leverages the Gold Coast City Plan’s 50 per cent building height uplift framework for medium density residential zoned land within designated urban neighbourhoods. The Gold Coast’s planning scheme allows height uplift bonuses if projects satisfy specific criteria, including improving “housing choice and affordability”. “The proposed development has direct and indirect positive impacts for housing choice and affordability,” the documents said. “The city has a well-documented dwelling supply shortage and the proposed development seeks to make a contribution to expanding this supply which will serve to have an impact on housing affordability. “The development seeks to contribute to affordability options as it may attract residents from a wide area, this in turn may create additional housing options in other locations. “Ultimately creating housing supply in any form will ensure a flow on effect of increasing housing options. As such, affordability associated with infill development has multiple linkages and overall seeks a positive influence in increasing housing supply. ▲ Renderings of the tower proposal designed by BDA Architecture for Bilinga. “In the local context, the development outcome is commensurate with the expected affordability of the Bilinga context. Affordability is further achieved through the inclusion of two separate apartments for five levels of the development. “It’s not uncommon for the development in this context and of this nature, to provide one unit per level. Comparatively, the proposal provides a variation to this and is comprised of both one and two units for various levels.” In July, however, a Queensland court’s decision threw the Gold Coast’s height uplift provisions into chaos threatening up to $5.5 billion worth of highrise projects across the coastal strip. The Queensland Court of Appeal overturned the approval of an uplift in building height relating to an unrelated high-end tower development at Bilinga, with one judge deeming that classifying luxury apartments as a benefit to housing affordability “would be a distortion of the ordinary meaning of affordability”. “To add to the supply of apartments designed to cater to the luxury and more affluent market cannot, in my view, be reconciled with the ordinary meaning of the word 'affordability',” Judge Shane Doyle wrote in his judgment summary. Subsequently, the council indicated it was considering measures to address uncertainty created by the court decision, including a temporary local planning instrument, amendment to the Gold Coast’s planning scheme or seeking state intervention.

Apartments
Phil Bartsch
Thu 24 Sep 26

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