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Oceanfront urban renewal is continuing to wash over a dunal dress circle on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Garfield Terrace—at the southern end of Surfers Paradise—is on the rise again with plans filed for a 35-storey tower comprising 55 high-end apartments.
To be called Maya, the proposal has been lodged by Brisbane-based Frank Developments, led by Frank Licastro.
It is the developer’s second foray on the Gold Coast, where basement works are under way on its debut 25-level beachfront Mira comprising 11 double-storey apartments.
Licastro said the addition of the sister project to Mira was a continuation of the company’s journey along the beachfront strip.
Maya is earmarked for a 810sq m site directly across the road on the corner of Garfield Terrace and Thornton Street, near the Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Club.
“We really love the Northcliffe pocket,” Licastro said. “And with Mira being absolute beachfront, we’ve experienced what the market is like at that top end.
“So when this opportunity across the road came to our attention we really saw it as a chance to bring something that was a little bit more affordable to that pocket.
“It’s also a corner site and with that unique frontage it offers a great opportunity from a design perspective to get some wider floorplates that open up the views a lot more.”
The BYculprit-designed scheme includes a mix of 52 three-bedroom apartments—two per floor—across levels 5 to 30, with two five-bedroom sub-penthouses occupying levels 31 and 32.
On levels 33 and 34, a sprawling two-level, five-bedroom penthouse is planned with a private rooftop terrace, including a pool, barbecue-outdoor kitchen and dining area.
The residential component sits above a four-level podium, the top level of which is designed to provide communal space, including a gym, sauna, lap pool, wet deck, daybeds, outdoor cinema, pickleball court, kitchen and private dining room.
A communal rooftop terrace also incorporates a pool, barbecue/outdoor dining area, kitchen, lounge, private dining and meeting rooms.
As well—to service the community—the development plans include a “beach clock” that will be visible from Northcliffe beach, and a corner deli/marketplace.
Parking for a total of 127 cars would be provided within a four-level basement and the podium.
Design director Luke Henderson said Maya had drawn inspiration from “the delicate intricacies of sealife” with its tapering form reflecting “the gradual gradient of the ocean”.
Licastro is partnering again with cousin and builder Joe Licastro’s Signature Property Projects on the Maya project.
In a strategic approach under the prevailing industry challenges, they initially teamed for Frank Development’s boutique four-storey inner-city Brisbane project Della Rosa. The New Farm project, comprising 12 two, three and four-bedroom apartments, was granted approval last month.
The Northcliffe Terrace-Garfield Terrace strip between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach has undergone a surge of development activity during the past few years, with ageing and rundown buildings from the 1970s and 1980s making way for taller and more luxurious towers.
