Cover image courtesy of Sunlight Lifestyle
The Gold Coast Turf Club (GCTC) lodged a development application last Friday with the Gold Coast City Council for a $370 million project, ‘Sunlight Lifestyle Precinct’.
Named after the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner, the project is a joint venture between the GCTC and Aquis Australia, who were secured as a Major Naming Right Partner under the stewardship of current GCTC CEO Steve Lines.
The proposal promises, ‘...an artisan atmosphere through the infusion of exciting shopping, food markets, wellness, dining and entertainment precincts, short stay serviced apartments and residential apartments.’
Steve Lines | Image courtesy of Aquis Park
Unrelated to the $63-million project currently underway to redevelop the racecourse with new tracks and lights for night racing, Lines told TDN AusNZ that the fresh proposal will bring new benefits for the racing industry, whilst ensuring a sustainable future for the Club.
“It's all about attracting people to the industry,” he said. “Showing off - showcasing what we've got to offer here.
“Having that integrated resort opportunity is something that sort of affords us something we don't have today, which is… more participants, more people involved, more people watching the spectacle (and) the integration of night racing.”
“Having that integrated resort opportunity is something that sort of affords us something we don't have today, which is… more participants, more people involved, more people watching the spectacle (and) the integration of night racing.” - Steve Lines
The plans
The most obvious feature of the precinct will be three towers rising up to 19 stories, currently named, imaginatively, ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C’. They will house the majority of 557 apartments and be flanked by a five-story building containing 63 serviced apartments.
Tower ‘C’ and that five-story building will directly overlook the north-west corner of the racecourse, building over what is currently the tie-ups, which will be replaced by ‘new and improved facilities’ south of what is currently the car park to the racecourse.
Artist's impression of the towers | Image courtesy of Sunlight Lifestyle
With the Gold Coast hardly famed for its walkability, over half of the ground space detailed in the plans will be set aside for car parks, offering 1304 spaces. On the plus side, the project will create over 1000 new jobs during construction and 228 upon completion and the redevelopment gives the Club a chance to solve some safety issues on the equine side.
“We’ll basically provide for better animal and participant welfare by taking them off the main road,” Lines said.
“If you know much about the traffic here at the Racecourse Drive, if you turn up here at five o'clock in the morning, (it) can be quite hectic.
“We'll actually exit all of the horse movements down the back of our car park. So, what we are trying to achieve is an outcome that delivers better animal welfare, better safety for our participants.
“We'll actually exit all of the horse movements down the back of our car park. So, what we are trying to achieve is an outcome that delivers better animal welfare, better safety for our participants.” - Steve Lines
“Then, deliverable on top of that, (is) an integrated resort that people can come, stay, play and go to the races, watch night racing, you know, do a whole range of other things.”
New avenues
One of the key benefits according to Lines is the provision of accommodation, which currently doesn’t exist in the immediate area. Expecting that attraction alone to drive visitor numbers given the number of existing events in the vicinity (with the sales ground next door), there’s also the style of the plans themselves, which are resort-like and somewhat lavish.
Aside from the many details, which include three rooftop bathing spots, the crowning jewel in the plans is the lush Sky Garden and its ‘open-air infinity wet edge pools’ - which will be open to the public. The Design Statement submitted by architects Woods Bagot explains:
"The buildings are arranged in a way to prioritise the public realm and create a variety of high-quality, landscaped sub-precincts connected via a series of pedestrian links that are activated by both retail and amenity."
Artist's impression of the lush Sky Garden with infinity wet edge pools | Image courtesy of Sunlight Lifestyle
Certainly, the enticing visuals publicised give the impression of a relaxed, green and thriving metropolis.
“At the end of the day, we're going to evolve ourselves into a… full-blown entertainment precinct off the back of the equine industry,” Lines said.
“We can have an integrated resort, basically, that sits on our doorstep that offers opportunities for people, not just to race all day, but to go to restaurants and dining cafes.
The Sunlight Lifestyle Precint will offer an integrated resort | Image courtesy of Sunlight Lifestyle
“There's office spaces planned, and of course there's the accommodation piece, which doesn't exist on the site or around the site at the moment.”
Lines fully expects that planting the new resort quite literally on the racecourse can only be a good thing for participation in our sport, and added that the racing industry would suffer minimum disruption for maximum benefit, with plans expected to be fully executed by 2030.
Security
Whilst the GCTC might become the first to offer a full-blown lifestyle precinct on-course, it is not the first to focus on securing its future against a backdrop of rising prime real estate prices. The key, according to Lines?
“...better asset utilisation,” he declared. “If you look at Morphettville, they’re doing it, Caulfield, they’re doing it…
“It's about how everyone in our industry is maximising the asset and the resource of that asset, but affording the integration of what is our core business - racing.”
“It's about how everyone in our industry is maximising the asset and the resource of that asset, but affording the integration of what is our core business - racing.” - Steve Lines
Though the ‘fine details’ of exactly who is funding the project have yet to be figured out, Lines offered the assurance that racing is certainly not selling out with proposals such as this.
“The land will never change hands,” he said. “It's, it's the club in, it's owned by the members so it will always remain their property.”
