The development, which is forecast to cost nearly $1.5 billion, will comprise a 285-room luxury hotel, 272 residential apartments, event spaces, retail, restaurants and bars.
David Young, the CEO of Altus Property Group, the Australian company building the tower, published a long piece on the company’s website yesterday providing details on the journey and the specifics of the development.
According to his now-removed insight, Young said the project had been in the works for nearly two decades after he cold-called Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, in 2007, to propose a Trump property in Surfers Paradise.
Young wrote the “6-star” hotel will “leave every other Australian resort property in its wake when it comes to luxury”.
Later in the piece he rebuts what he calls misconceptions of the Trump brand.
“The file footage that Australians see, of Trump hotels and resorts with gaudy gold-plated bathrooms fixtures, mirrors and heavy chandeliers, is old footage from the 1980s and 90s,” he wrote.
“The modern Trump package is high-end design and fit outs, with a premium feel. It’s tasteful and expensive – when you walk into a modern Trump property, the impression is ‘quality’ and ‘boutique’.
“The Trump International Hotel & Tower Gold Coast will follow the same Trump design manual as the properties currently being built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and about-to-be built in Doha, UAE.
“The design is impressive, bringing incredible quality into a package that also feels boutique. It’s a unique experience and there will be no other like it in Australia.”
Young said the property is being funded by private investors from around the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and the US.
He wrote that work on the hotel’s site, about 3km north of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, will start this year and suggested that the tower would top out by the end of the decade. The building’s height, at approximately 335m, makes it Australia’s tallest building by today’s standards, although there is another development, also slated for the Gold Coast, that has a greater height proposed.
The City of Gold Coast said today it had not yet received a development application for the project.
The Trump Organization has released its own media statement confirming the Gold Coast development.
“Trump International Hotel & Tower, Gold Coast is our first official project in Australia and reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering world-class luxury experiences in iconic locations around the world,” said Trump Organization’s executive vice president, Eric Trump.
“This development exemplifies the Trump brand’s dedication to quality, sophistication and unmatched service, and we are thrilled to bring this vision to the vibrant Gold Coast community.”
Young says the tower will be Australian owned under a subsidiary of Altus Property Group, with hotel management and brand licensing agreements with the Trump Organization.
