Bubble Wrap King Unveils Third Broadbeach Highrise

Taiwanese bubble-wrap king Robert Hsu is continuing to pad out his towering Broadbeach development pipeline on the Gold Coast. Hsu’s Polycell Group has filed a proposal for a 53-storey highrise—more than four times taller than the site’s existing tower—comprising 216 apartments. It is the developer’s third tower project along the popular beachside strip. Under the plans, the 12-storey Sandpiper tower built in 1980 would be demolished to make way for the new addition to the city’s skyline. In a nod to its ageing predecessor, however, the proposed development will retain the name that has become synonymous with the prominent 1828sq m site on the corner of Old Burleigh Road and Albert Avenue. Overall, the new Sandpiper tower would provide a mix of 112 two, 99 three, 3 four and 2 five-bedroom apartment atop three basement levels, ground-floor lobby plus mezzanine and four-storey podium. Crowning the BDA Architecture-designed scheme are two sub-penthouses and a penthouse—all spanning full floors of more than 800sq m, including balconies. Three levels of communal open space are planned with a recreation deck on the podium rooftop at level 5 and two club lounges, on levels 33 and 34 Amenities would include a gym, yoga room, barbecue and dining areas, an infinity edge lap pool as well as a shallow zone and floating daybeds, a spa, therapy pools, sauna, steam room, and treatment room. ▲ Renderings of the 53-storey tower proposed for 153-155 Old Burleigh Road, Broadbeach. The scheme would be known as Sandpiper. Carparking would be accommodated across three basement and three podium levels with a combined 316 resident and 22 visitor spaces. At its ground level entrance, the tower proposal features a landscaped forecourt with a pond designed to enhance the pedestrian realm and embrace and greenery and open space of Kurrawa Park across the road. The ground floor includes a generous welcoming lobby and landscaped forecourt creating an inviting entrance for residents and visitors. “The proposed development will revitalise the corner site and will bookend, and be responsive to, the appropriately intensive city block,” the documents said. Hsu’s Polycell Group reportedly has splurged more than $100 million on Broadbeach property holdings, including $45 million in a two-year buy up of all the units in the ageing Sandpiper highrise at 153-155 Old Burleigh Road. ▲ Renderings of the proposed highrise. Nearby, the developer’s 42-storey, 182-apartment tower The Rochester Broadbeach fronting Surf Parade is under construction. It was also recently given the green light for a tower rising 59 storeys—the suburb’s tallest beachside tower at almost 212m—on a landmark 2070sq m site at 167 Old Burleigh Road. It will replace the 1980s-built, 16-level Voyager Resort and its 62 timeshare units. The site on the corner of Elizabeth Avenue was acquired in 2022 by Hsu, who outbid development heavy-hitters Harry Triguboff and Bob Ell. Polycell Group was founded in the 1970s by Hsu. It began as a packaging and materials company in Taiwan and has since grown and diversified into a global business that is not only the world’s largest privately owned bubble wrap producer but also specialises in property development, investment and asset management. It set up its Australasian operation in 1992, initially in Brisbane before expanding into Sydney and Melbourne.

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Phil Bartsch
Mon 05 May 25

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ResidentialPhil BartschMon 05 May 25

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Mon 05 May 25