Big spend on in race for Comm Games gold

Surfers Paradise may have the name but Broadbeach is bidding to be the Gold Coast’s gold medal suburb for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Millions of dollars are being poured into Broadbeach as it prepares for the biggest event in the history of the Queensland city.

The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, located in the suburb, will be a vital part of the games experience, hosting sporting events as well as being the media hub.

The nearby Pacific Fair shopping centre is tipping $670 million into the nearly 40-year-old precinct, transforming it into Queensland’s largest regional shopping mall.

Across the road, Jupiters Hotel and Casino is undergoing a $345 million redevelopment, aimed at revitalising an icon of the region’s tourism industry.

The ambitious plans for the facility will eventually result in the creation of several new restaurants, fully refurbished accommodation and the creation of a six-star tower separate to the existing building.

Plans are also in place to build a 200m hotel tower to house approximately 700 hotel rooms and apartments, though this addition is set to be completed following the April 2018 Games.

Star Entertainment Group Queensland managing director Geoff Hogg says the need to revitalise Jupiters exists with or without the lure of the games but that event gives a natural timeline.

“Primarily the need to transform the property has existed for a while and we needed to land on what the exact plans were on what we needed to do,” Mr Hogg told AAP.

“That timing matched up reasonably well with the timing of the Commonwealth Games.”

Mr Hogg admits Jupiters had fallen into the shadows of the rapidly growing Broadbeach skyline since it opened in the mid-80s.

The 21-storey building was an iconic destination for the Gold Coast, bringing a touch of Las Vegas to the region during the big-spending, fast-living late 80s and early 90s.

A ribbon of high-rises now lines the Broadbeach foreshore, dwarfing the former superstar attraction.

“If you go back 30 years you would say Pacific Fair, and then Jupiters, created a lot of energy which has meant Broadbeach evolved over that 20-30 years that came afterwards,” Mr Hogg said.

“We had 600-odd hotel rooms nearly that faced the beach and had nothing in front of them 30 years ago. The landscape of Broadbeach has evolved and changed but cities do that and I think that’s what’s exciting.”

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