At 65 storeys tall, with roughly half of its 437 apartments settled so far, Tower 2 at The Star Residences is being turned into a functioning suburb in real time. Most Gold Coasters will never buy in, but its completion says something about where the rest of the market is headed – whether you’re renting in Southport or trying to buy your first place in Currumbin.
Right now, somewhere on Broadbeach Island, a moving truck is double-parked, a defect is being logged, and a strata manager’s morning plan has already changed twice before 9am.
Troy Fettes, Senior Strata and Asset Manager on the project, says nothing quite prepares you for a tower this size.
“Your plan could change within the first half hour of the day,” he says, juggling builders, defect lists and hundreds of new residents, all while making sure the lifts and building systems in a 65-storey tower actually work.
Day-to-day, Troy is dealing with a ‘real mixture’ of residents; owner-occupiers neighbouring short-term holiday letters, six-month tenants next to Airbnbs – all sharing the same lobby, gym and pools.
The buyer list is a decent snapshot of who’s choosing the Gold Coast right now: Sydneysiders and Melbournites treating the coast as a long-term lifestyle investment; overseas owners buying lock-up-and-leave holiday bases; over-50s downsizing with resort perks; remote workers no longer tied to an office.
Then there’s the buyer who challenges the “luxury tower” narrative – a first-home owner in his early 20s, who bought off the plan four or five years ago and just moved in (riding a fair amount of capital growth along the way).
It’s a reminder that a tower like this isn’t only selling to interstate money – the buyers who are easy to blame for the state of the local market. It’s also a sign of how far the goalposts have shifted for anyone trying to buy their first place here.
“A lot of people are priced out of the Gold Coast housing market,” Troy says. “These developments are more affordable in comparison, and also offer the flexibility to earn an income and build capital growth.”
It’s true – with an important asterisk. Vertical communities like The Star Residences aren’t necessarily a fix for the locals being priced out of a house. They’re a different product, usually chosen by a different kind of buyer.
What vertical communities signal for the Gold Coast
The Gold Coast has never been shy about building up – Surfers Paradise has had a skyline of towers since the 1970s. But most of that stock has been reserved for holidaymakers and investors, designed to turn over short-stay guests, not to hold a settled community.
What’s different about towers like this one is what’s being asked of them – to function as an actual neighbourhood, not just a well-located investment. And Troy says the community side is real, not just marketing.
“We’ve seen neighbours becoming friends and residents hosting get-togethers,” Troy says. “It’s more than just opening a building – we’re trying to build a community. Places like this are shaping the future of the Gold Coast.”
Vertical communities might not save the locals trying to buy their first home, but they tell us a lot about where the Gold Coast is headed – especially with three more towers approved for Broadbeach Island. What we do know is, for a long time yet, there will always be a moving truck double-parked, a defect waiting to be logged, and a new resident excited to call the Gold Coast home.
