Gold Coast Cafe-Top Apartment Plans Get Go-Ahead

A boutique cafe-top residential development has been given the nod to rise from one the Gold Coast’s most popular beachside eateries and coffee pitstops.

It is earmarked for a 809sq m site that has been the longstanding home of health cafe BSKT, at the corner of Albatross Avenue and Lavarack Road, Mermaid Beach.

The cafe was founded in 2013 by former Gold Coast Titans rugby league players Greg Bird, Nate Myles, Selasi Berdie and Mat Rogers.

In the planned redevelopment approved by the Gold Coast City Council the cafe will share the ground level with a three-bedroom apartment.

Another four three-bedroom apartments—two per floor—will occupy levels one and two. 

Bayley Property Group, led by local developer and landlord Ron Bayley, is behind the project, which will replace an existing two-level commercial building.

The scheme designed by BDA Architects is capped by a two-level, four-bedroom penthouse—including a private rooftop with a pool, sundeck, sunken terrace and barbecue area with dining as well as lounge seating.

“The proposed development will deliver an exemplary boutique style apartment building with an integrated cafe,” the planning report supporting the project said.

“The design and appearance of the proposed development delivers a positive addition to the prestigious character and quality of the Mermaid Beach neighbourhood.”

The application also noted the development “responds positively to the applicable provisions of the South East Queensland Regional Plan, delivering housing growth in the form of a ‘missing middle’ typology within a well-serviced urban neighbourhood of the city”.

Overall, the report said, the proposal would deliver “a residential building of a contemporary, minimalist coastal form and character” with clean sleek lines, fluted concrete and generous outdoor living spaces that create “a lightweight sense of built form presence in the streetscape”.

“The proposed development is of bespoke architectural design, adopting a modern form, which responds positively to the coastal location.”

A total of 18 basement carparking spaces would be accommodated within the development at 4 Lavarack Road.