Triguboff’s appetite for Gold Coast grows as plans lodged for $1.3b Cypress towers

Billionaire developer Harry Triguboff’s appetite for the Gold Coast has not abated with age as his Meriton Apartments prepares for a new three-tower development, the largest it has ever proposed for the glitter strip, to occupy an entire city block in Surfers Paradise.

The project, known as Cypress, will bring the number of apartments recently developed or planned by Meriton in Surfers Paradise to more than 2,000 with Triguboff’s confidence in the local market buoyed by sustained demand.

Cypress, estimated to be worth $1.3 billion, comes on the heels of Meriton completing the $600 million Ocean tower along the Surfers Paradise Esplanade last year and construction beginning on the nearby $700 million Iconica, a twin-tower development scheduled for completion in 2026.

Triguboff, who celebrated his 90^th birthday in March, has earmarked Cypress for a 1ha site that has long been home to the famed Surfers attraction known as the Vomitron after acquiring the land last year.

“I have loved the Gold Coast since my first visit in the 1960s, and after all my travels internationally, I still believe Surfers Paradise is one of the best positions in the world," Triguboff says.

"The Cypress Avenue towers will be my 21st high-rise development on the Gold Coast. I am extremely proud of Meriton’s 100 per cent construction completion record which offers purchasers security and certainty.”

Of the 761 apartments and suites in the Ocean tower, Meriton has revealed to Business News Australia that fewer than 40 apartments remain for sale, while sales at Iconica 'have been going very well since its release late last year'.

Meriton lodged its proposal for the Cypress development last month with plans to deliver 994 residential apartments and 327 short-stay serviced apartments on the site.

The tallest of the Cypress towers is set to rise 80 storeys, even higher than the 76 storeys planned for the largest tower at Iconica which Meriton upscaled following its initial planning application. It also positions the Cypress penthouses among the highest apartments on the Gold Coast, above those of the Q1 which stands at 78 storeys.

Cypress will also include a 73-storey residential apartment tower and a 53-storey building dedicated to serviced apartments which will be managed by Meriton Apartments.

Meriton says all three towers will feature rooftop gardens, with the two residential apartment buildings to have a range of residents' amenities including a swimming pool, spa, gym, games room and barbecue facilities.

A five-level podium across all three towers will deliver a mix of retail, dining, and entertainment spaces that Meriton says are ‘carefully curated to create a vibrant and dynamic public realm’. Above the podium will be an elevated lagoon-style pool area with lush tropical landscaping on level six for residents and guests.

Meriton has also proposed a full-floor childcare centre for the development, incorporating outdoor play areas, in the main tower.

Cypress occupies nearly an entire city block in Surfers Paradise bounded by Cypress Avenue, Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Palm Avenue and Ferny Avenue.

A 2,409sqm portion of the block on the southwest corner was previously acquired by a Brisbane-based developer which has planned a 15-level hotel on the site. Meriton is understood to have sought to buy the remaining portion of the site but was unsuccessful in its bid.

Triguboff, who this year celebrated 60 years since founding Meriton Apartments, still takes a hands-on role in the business which has concentrated its efforts in Sydney and the Gold Coast in recent years.

The Gold Coast has been a happy hunting ground for the billionaire with Triguboff making no secret of finding some councils in Sydney notoriously difficult to work with.

Meriton first ventured to the Gold Coast in the early 1980s, developing Florida in Surfers Paradise and the Nelson at Paradise Waters, followed by projects at Main Beach, Broadbeach and Southport.

"Little did I know that one day I would have the opportunity to purchase a site that is so dear to me, arguably the most central land in Surfers Paradise, and design a trilogy of the country’s tallest towers,” Triguboff says.

Since 1963, Merton has developed about 76,000 apartments, including projects in Brisbane and Canberra, while it holds about 4,000 in its serviced apartments pool.

The Cypress development is among a slew of large-scale projects planned for long-vacant ‘bomb sites’ in northern Surfers Paradise in recent years.

When completed, Cypress will sit close to the $1 billion Paradiso Place, a three-tower development planned by SPG Land to the north of the site, and Tim Gurner’s $1.7 billion La Pelago, a three-tower project that will deliver Australia’s first St Regis hotel.