THIRD SANBANO TOWER GETS NOD

CHINESE developer Sanbano Group Capital is poised to make a start on a $78 million twin-tower project at Southport after company principal Mr Yang was personally handed the development approval by Mayor Tom Tate yesterday morning.

The Zhen by Sanbano project will bring to three the developments that Sanbano has planned for the Gold Coast, including another 51-level tower yet to start at Southport.

The company has just launched the marketing campaign for Sanbano Coolangatta, an $85 million luxury residential tower nearing completion along Coolangatta’s beachfront.

It expects to start construction of Zhen by Sanbano at Southport by the end of this year.

Tate surprised Yang by presenting him with the Southport project’s approval at Coolangatta yesterday morning.

The Mayor describes Zhen by Sanbano as “another huge development in the heart of our city”.

It is earmarked for a site adjacent to Victoria Towers in Scarborough Street and will comprise a twin-tower development of 26 storeys and eight storeys with a total of 221 apartments.

Zhen by Sanbano will target a completely different market to Sanbano Coolangatta, says Graham Goldman, the managing director of project manager Eastview Australia.

“(It will be) focused to suit the investor market in Southport,” Goldman tells Gold Coast Business News.

“We will certainly be delivering a top-of-the range product, but it has to suit the market and be comparative with what is being developed in Southport.”

Colliers International has been engaged to market Zhen by Sanbano which will kick off well ahead of construction.

Sanbano has taken a different tack with Sanbano Coolangatta. The marketing campaign, co-ordinated by CBRE, officially launched this week just three months from the project’s completion.

Sanbano has decided to begin construction of Zhen by Sanbano before the larger project at Southport, a 51-level tower comprising 555 apartments for which development approval already has been granted.

Tate has previously described 2014 as the “year of the crane” for the Gold Coast.

He says there are currently more than 10 cranes on the city’s skyline and he anticipates the new town plan, a draft of which has been released for public consultation, will make the development path easier.

“Where we are heading now with the new town plan, which will be adopted by the beginning of 2015, is to bring certainty and confidence, and with that will come more investment and jobs for the city,” he says.