Locke

This one was originally proposed by Villaworld and going to be a 58 and 36 storey twin tower complex. Then Raptis bought into a joint venture with Villaworld and it was rumoured in the GC Bulletin to be changed to 65 and 25 storey twin tower complex. Now Raptis has bought out the whole site outright and towers will be 53 stories and 35 stories and mixed use. So whilst the floor number has gone down, the height has gone up on the original designs due to them being now partly commercial. Hard to say how tall the rumoured 65 storey version was but in any case by all accounts the new mixed use design is meant to be totally kick-ass.

From the GC Bulletin site:

Raptis buys out key Surfers site
14Mar07

RAPTIS Group is buying out its joint-venture partner in the Dolphin Arcade and has also announced it is firming up a revamp of plans for the central Surfers Paradise property.

MFS Diversified, which inherited the project through its takeover of Villa World last year, has negotiated a $31 million unconditional sale of its 50 per cent interest in the property which Villa World bought in 2002 for $33 million.

In 2005, Raptis and Villa World had teamed up to develop a $220 million retail and apartment project on the site.

Raptis yesterday announced it had lodged a new development application which would add a commercial office component as well as entertainment, dining and retail facilities to the residential towers which were originally proposed.

Raptis Group chairman Jim Raptis said the company had lodged an application with the city council seeking approval for a 53-storey and 35-storey twin-tower project, down from the 58-storey and 36-storey development first proposed by Villa World.

He said with the addition of a commercial component there would be a revamp of the original exterior design.

"With its prime position in the heart of Surfers Paradise, we see the Dolphin Arcade project as an important acquisition for the group," said Mr Raptis.

He said Raptis Group had 'always had a good relationship with Villa World and MFS Diversified' and the decision to sell was made solely by MFS Diversified.

MFS Diversified chief executive Brent Hailey said yesterday his company had always intended to sell its interest in the project.

He said high rise residential and mixed-use development was not a core business of the group.

"The sale was part of the strategy developed when MFS Diversified and Villa World merged last year," he said.

MFS Diversified plans to use proceeds of the sale to further its development interests in Melbourne, where the company has extended its residential housing interests with a pipeline of more than 3400 lots.

Its development plans will be aided by securityholders' approval this week to raise up to $200 million through the issue of new stapled securities.

MFS Ltd would subscribe to up to $30 million of this capital raising in order to maintain its current holding in the group.

The Dolphin Arcade sale is expected to be finalised on or before December 14. The original sale of 50 per cent to Raptis Group is yet to settle, but is due by July 6.

Villa World had accounted for that sale in its December-half 2005 results.

While the latest sale has effectively unlocked a $28 million profit for MFS Diversified, Dolphin Arcade has a carrying value of $29 million on the company's books and a pre-tax profit of just $2 million will be posted on the deal.

Meanwhile, MFS Diversified has also announced an increase in distributions to 2.25c for the March and June quarters, which will take total payouts to for the current financial year to 8.5c.

MFS Diversified's securities jumped 2.5c to close at 90.5c yesterday, while Raptis Group's shares closed steady at $1.19.

SoulVision

awesome stuff! Downtown Surfers is really getting transformed... and with ANA sitting right beside it.

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Locke

Yep, well ANA is a stunner and apparently Dolphin is meant to be a total stunner as well.

It will do wonders for street level in this part of Surfers.

Locke

Pics by Culwulla:

WOW!!! AMAZING DUBAI STYLE!

Tallest is 186m, shortest is 118m.

Architects are Buchan Group who also did Vision in Brisbane and the ANA tower on the GC, common theme being they are all stunners.

SoulVision

HOLY MOLY! THEY ARE STUNNING!

Talk about Dubai style!!!

__________________
brisbane
australia's new world city
www.brisbanedevelopment.com