If you grew up on the Gold Coast, you’ll know the skyline has been in a long-term situationship with scaffolding since about 200-forever. Now Mayor Tom Tate has personally jetted off to Mar-a-Lago to help lock in a 91‑storey Trump Tower in Surfers Paradise, and I’m honestly wondering if anyone’s checked how much actual sun is left on the beach.
Tom Tate has taken fan behaviour to a whole new level. In an interview with the Gold Coast Bulletin, he said Donald Trump greeted him at Mar-a-Lago in Florida with, “Mr Mayor, you’re very welcome to our residence in Mar-a-Lago,” and that he suddenly felt like Trump “knew who I was”.
He’s also called Trump “very likeable” and someone who “does his homework” (put some respect on that assistant’s name), and described Eric Trump, the one actually running the project, as “a genuine guy”.
He went on to gush that “it’s going to be the first Trump Tower in Australia … it’s quite incredible actually, it’s all about quality”, and that putting the Trump brand on it “will take it next level, and all the Americans will know where the Gold Coast is”. Funny, that would have been a dissuasion for me.
Seriously, we already have The Star Casino glowering over Broadbeach like a neon migraine, do we really need another enormous monument for rich people to rich it up? Although I love where I grew up, there is no denying that the Coast is known for being a reality TV mean‑girl incubator, making run-clubs a personality trait, and the club Bedroom (IYKYK). Slapping “Trump International” on the foreshore feels less like a flex and more like a push into the worst possible timeline.
According to reporting from the ABC, Australian developer Altus Property Group has signed a final agreement with the Trump Organisation for a $1.5 billion, 91‑storey tower on Trickett Street in Surfers Paradise.
Eric Trump has already posted the render and said he “couldn’t be more excited” to help shape the Gold Coast skyline, noting it would be the family’s first Australian project.
It would have a resort hotel, about 270 luxury apartments, a retail plaza and a beach club, with Altus CEO David Young saying apartments would start at around $5 million and that the project is aimed at the “world’s wealthiest people” who “buy, they invest, they build” and then go out to dinner and “do leisure activities”. That’s great for them. For everyone else, it’s one more glass giant blocking the ocean breeze and reminding you you’ll never own property.
Thankfully my hometown hasn’t entirely let me down as there is a petition that more than 25,000 people have signed online against the tower. So there is still hope!
The site itself has been vacant for over a decade with an 89‑storey tower already approved, while acting mayor Mark Hammel says council “welcomes investment” but still hasn’t received a formal development application.
As someone who grew up there and now watches from a safe distance, I genuinely don’t understand why we’re so desperate for “an icon” when we already have the AquaDuck, Pancakes on the Rocks, a rock literally called Cock Rock, Margot Robbie, and the waffle fries at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (again, IYKYK). WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?!
The Gold Coast is already on the map. Building a Trump Tower in Surfers doesn’t feel like the city levelling up. It feels like the Gold Coast becoming a punchline — and we honestly have enough of those already.
Lead image: Getty / Instagram
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