Gold Coast – no longer just a tourist town

The Gold Coast already has all the hallmarks of an international city, including a casino, international airport, global sporting events, major universities, as well as a few national business head offices.

“Typically, cities take time to grow and mature, and usually what we see is they come to a ‘tipping point’ before they take off. Ten years ago, this was Brisbane, where it had just started its evolution from ‘small country town’ to what it is today: a vibrant city, with a lively cultural scene. The Gold Coast is at that same tipping point now,” said Ironfish Director, Property & Research, Grant Ryan.

Whilst Salt argues that historically, the government has had little to do with the Gold Coast’s growth up till now, this is now changing. The city is seeing significant investment from both public and private sectors into its development as a major city.

The light rail was an infrastructure project that has exceeded expectations in terms of resident take up, and eventually will run directly from the airport into the city.

The international airport is getting further upgrades to allow it to receive larger aircraft sizes – further increasing its international accessibility.

From an arts and culture perspective, the Gold Coast Home of the Arts (HOTA) precinct is undergoing major expansion, with a new outdoor area, and pedestrian ‘Green Bridge’ through to Surfers Paradise via the upmarket Chevron Island. The bridge will form part of a new dynamic ‘art walk’.

The Gold Coast economy is also now more diverse, shifting from being heavily reliant on tourism and construction to focus on knowledge-based industries including health and education, as well as advanced manufacturing and information communications technology.

The health sector plays a major role in the economy with the ongoing development of the $5+ billion Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. The 200-hectare precinct currently employs 10,000 people and is home to 20,000 students. Once fully developed, the precinct will support 26,000 jobs and contribute $2.9 billion to the economy annually.

Over the next five years, the economy is expected to generate an additional 36,100 jobs, with the biggest contributor being the health care and social assistance industry.