A new shopping centre in the heart of Surfers Paradise will bring a unique offer to the famous strip...
Surfers Paradise has a new Soul.
That's the name for a new integrated development fronting Cavill Mall which will soon tower into the skies overlooking Australia's most famous beach.
Developed by Juniper Properties, Soul will be home to more than 40 retail and dining tenancies in an offer its developer considers will be unique to the city.
When complete it will comprise 760sqm GLA of retail space.
The first stage of Soul Retail opened prior to Christmas 2009 with surf retailers Rip Curl and Rush opening their Cavill Mall stores. Shortly after Ripley's Believe It or Not museum opened in the "old" position in early January, with a $2 million dollar plus fitout.
Stage two is currently under completion - a walkway linking Cavill Mall with The Esplanade, to be home to flagship retail stores and national tenants.
Soul's retail precinct will have a 114 m frontage to The Esplanade and a further 55 metre frontage to Cavill Mall, linking the two in a seamless retail experience. Retail space in those frontages is now being leased. Most of the target tenancies will be fashion and accessories based with the leasing team seeking tenants not currently located in the tourist precinct.
A focal point of Soul will be a family dining precinct that offers uninterrupted beach views - currently under construction. This new Esplanade foreshore redevelopment will see Surfers Paradise Beach integrated with a retail offer and allowing free flowing pedestrian access.
A number of first floor dining areas such as the 670sqm Cavill Mall restaurant are open to lease and there is potential for a fine dining restaurant of up to 1000sqm in size, with unrivalled ocean views.
Juniper says Interest in those positions has been strong, despite last year's challenging economic conditions.
Above Soul a 77 storey skyscraper is under construction, home to some 280 designer apartments. Underneath will be parking for around 180 shoppers' cars.
The entire project is valued at $850 million, ranking it amongst the largest commercial developments the Gold Coast has ever seen.
This feature first
appeared in Inside Retailing Magazine. Click here to subscribe.