Big is better as the Trump name comes to Australia
Plans are being fast-tracked to build a Trump Tower on the Gold Coast, which will be the nation's tallest build.
RIVAL petitions have been launched over a proposed 340-metre, 91-storey Trump tower at the Queensland holiday hotspot that is being billed as Australia’s tallest building.
Reactions have been mixed after a local developer claimed to have signed a deal with United States President Donald Trump’s family to build the $1.5 billion monolith, creating a “natural home to the well-heeled”.
The super tower’s design has been revealed by Mr Trump’s son Eric, depicting the huge high-rise complete with family logo dominating the Surfers Paradise skyline.
“I am so proud to announce what will soon be the tallest building in Australia – Trump International Hotel & Tower Gold Coast,” he posted on social media.
“This marks our first venture into Australia – an extraordinary country in every respect – and I couldn’t be more excited to help shape its iconic skyline forever.”
Gold Coast City Council is set to mull over the development application after Queensland’s Altus Property Group claimed to have pulled off the landmark deal.
Mayor Tom Tate said the development was “quite incredible”.
“It’s all about quality. Putting the Trump brand on it, it will take it next-level, and all the Americans will know where the Gold Coast is,” he told Triple M Gold radio on Tuesday.
Asked if he had met Mr Trump, the mayor replied: “I had dinner with him and marvelled at how beautiful Melania is in real life.”
Not everyone is on board after Altus CEO David Young said he had signed the deal with Trump Organization executive Eric Trump.
Almost 28,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the Gold Coast Council and Queensland government to reject the tower’s construction.
“Allowing a Trump-branded development on the Gold Coast would send the wrong message about who we are as a community and what we are willing to endorse,” the petition says.
A counter-petition launched to rally support for the Surfers Paradise skyscraper has attracted more than 3000 signatures.
“The proposed Trump Tower on Trickett Street, Gold Coast, holds immense potential to transform the local economic landscape and propel the region into a thriving hub of activity and opportunity,” it says.
The proposed tower features a six-star resort hotel, about 270 luxury apartments reportedly starting at $5 million each, a retail plaza and a beach club.
“It will be finished before the Olympics start, creating a tourism adjunct to the Games themselves,” Mr Young said in a statement.
Young said he had been pursuing the development for nearly 20 years, cold-calling Ivanka Trump in 2007 to pitch a Trump resort as “Australia’s finest tourism property”.
He added the final agreement was signed with the Trump Organisation at the Mar-a-Lago resort on February 14. The company was now “deeply into a process of design, engineering, construction and fit-out”.
The building will be Australian-owned and Australian-built in line with the Trump company’s design requirements, Young said.
