Graya Taps Starchitect After Jefferson Lane Site Coup

Every second weekend for four years, Rob Gray zealously traipsed up and down Palm Beach’s fabled Jefferson Lane compiling one of the Gold Coast’s most coveted development hit lists. Each absolute beachfront block was noted, ranked and obsessively revisited. The best of the best—wide-frontage, redevelopment-friendly, no problematic erosion line—went into a special category of a favoured few deemed most suitable for a future dream project. One particular double block, however, was put in an even more exclusive basket. “This one I actually put in my ‘It’ll be impossible to buy’ category,” Gray—one half of South-East Queensland luxury builder-developer Graya—recalls. And yet that site is now in his and brother, and Graya co-founder, Andrew’s hands —albeit, with a prevailing degree of disbelief on the part of the former Brisbane house-flipping duo, who inked a record $23.5-million deal to secure the slice of dunal paradise. The 814sq m beachfront block at 39-41 Jefferson Lane was acquired from Sydney-based businessman Ryan Stokes. Spanning two neighbouring blocks, the son of billionaire and recently retired media magnate Kerry Stokes had splashed $8 million on the amalgamation between 2016 and 2021, with plans for a nine-storey, 134-apartment development. “I’d crossed it off our list” “Still to this moment, I don’t actually know why he would sell … he had no reason to sell,” Gray says. “I’d actually crossed it off our list.” Then, out of the blue, the property was brought to Graya late last year by GV Property Group. Although still convinced the site was effectively unbuyable, Graya decided to “have a crack” anyway. “We put in an offer thinking we had zero per cent chance of getting it … and didn’t think anything of it,” Gray says. “But as it turned out it was just the right timing.” ▲ Graya paid $23.5 million for the site at Palm Beach owned by Sydney-based businessman Ryan Stokes, son of media billionaire Kerry. Two weeks later, the brothers were settling into The Urban Developer end-of-year Long Lunch event at The Star Brisbane when they got the phone call. “The number we offered was pretty strong but the vendor came back saying ‘you’re interested but it has to be this’ and we didn’t argue,” he says. “So we didn’t hang around because we had to go back and sign the documents.” Graya had been chasing an absolute beachfront opportunity since 2022, missing out on six sites along the way—sometimes on price, sometimes on terms and occasionally despite being the highest bidder. “We probably paid more than we should’ve,” Gray says. “You always do that on good sites and you never regret it … anyhow, at least weve secured one—finally,” Gray says. Dealing with a vendor of the ilk of Stokes, he says, also shaped the tone of negotiations. “We’ve done a few deals lately with ultra high-net-worth people, whether it’s buying or selling… you can probably talk a bit more openly and there’s less games.” Four years in the making And after a diligent four-year search, Graya—acutely aware not all beachfront property is created equal on the Gold Coast—was determined to seize the opportunity no matter what. Aside from Palm Beach’s Jefferson Lane, Mermaid Beach’s Hedges and Albatross avenues are the only other strip’s that offer direct straight-to-sand frontage without being separated by a road or path. ▲ Graya had in the hunt for a beachfront site since 2022 and missed out on six sites before landing the Jefferson Lane block. Even so, the city’s coastal erosion line—known as the A-line—also renders many absolute beachfront sites virtually undevelopable from a multi-residential perspective. “A lot of the front row is impossible to redevelop because the A-line cuts the block off too much… but in that little spot of Palm Beach, the dunes are deeper so it doesn’t get affected,” Gray says. “We’ve told them to go hard” Design concepts, he says, have already been drawn up for Graya’s first absolute beachfront foray on the Gold Coast—letting slip that acclaimed studio Koichi Takada Architects has been engaged to create a bold beachfront statement. “We’ve told them to go hard,” Gray says. “We’ve seen concepts… and it’s pretty out there.” Graya is working within the parameters of the site’s existing nine-storey approval but completely reimagining the built form to accommodate a mix of full-floor and half-floor ultra luxury apartments. It has previously partnered with Koichi Takada Architects on a five-storey retail and office play in Brisbane’s inner-city James Street precinct. A development application detailing its new scheme for the Jefferson Lane site is expected to be lodged within a few months, with architectural renders being closely guarded until then. Gray says while some developers are stepping back from the sand to chase scale and easier feasibilities, Graya is doubling down on the top end. “Developers are moving back for scale… buying cheaper land, building taller and selling more product. For us, getting a juicier feasibility is not everything,” he says. ▲ Rob and Andrew Gray and a rendering of the now completed Kloud project also on Jefferson Lane at Palm Beach. “We’re really passionate about doing the best projects and the best product. We feel like that will pay dividends in years to come for our brand and reputation… so we’re looking at it as a long game.” Looking ahead, in Gray’s view, the major constraint won’t be demand—which he says is still thriving for high-end residential product—but rather supply-side pressure. “The biggest pinch point is going to be trades—shortage of trades,” he says. “Everyone’s going to be fighting over staff. The market’s going to be strong, there’s going to be buyers, there’s going to be people wanting to develop because the market’s going up. “It’s just going to make it more and more competitive.” Would-be buyers prompted deal He says Graya’s acquisition of the Jefferson Lane site has been motivated by a “massive line-up” of would-be buyers for luxury absolute beachfront stock—many of whom missed out on buying into its nearby project, Kloud. “You’d be shocked if you actually saw the names on our waiting list off the back of Kloud…we’ve got celebrities, politicians, really influential people,” he says. On the western side of the exclusive Palm Beach strip, the now completed 12-storey, 23-unit scheme is a full house with a total sales value of $77.6 million. “We built that extremely quickly and it was a really successful project. So it makes sense that we have a sequel—and when you do a sequel, it’s always got to be bigger and better, right?” And then, what do you do to top that? “You buy a triple or a quadruple beachfront block,” Gray says with a slight chuckle that suggests he may be only half joking.

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