16 years in the making: Inside KTQ’s transformation of Kirra Point

Kirra Beach has changed considerably over the past decade, and few have played a greater role in that transformation than KTQ Group.

The developer had envisioned leading Kirra's next chapter well before the southern Gold Coast pocket appeared on the radar of apartment developers and prospective purchasers.

KTQ bought its first parcel of land on Kirra's dress-circle Marine Parade in 2010. At the time, the beachfront suburb had many of the fundamentals that make it so sought-after today, but little of the development, dining and lifestyle amenity that has followed.

For KTQ, it was a matter of when, not if.

The group steadily assembled what would become Kirra Point, a long-term precinct vision that has since delivered Miles Residences, the revived Kirra Beach Hotel and Kirra Beach House, helping bring new residents, visitors and hospitality back to the beachfront.

Sixteen years after that first acquisition, Kirra is a very different place.

New apartment developments have arrived, cafés and restaurants have followed and buyers who might once have focused their search on Burleigh Heads or Broadbeach are increasingly looking further south. Yet KTQ's vision for Kirra Point is still unfolding.

Casilia Residences is the next, and final, residential chapter, and an important piece in bringing the wider precinct together.

Recently visiting Kirra Point and the display suite, at a cool 23-degree sunny day in the middle of winter, I had the opportunity to catch up with Tim Keenan, Director of Keenan Byrne, who sold out the Miles Residences, the first stage of Kirra Point, to much fan fare, and is currently selling Casilia. 

"You just can't create a north-facing beach," Keenan says.

The location is increasingly resonating with buyers looking beyond the Gold Coast's more established apartment markets. Some are moving south from Broadbeach and Burleigh, attracted to Kirra's more relaxed coastal environment, while others are locals determined to remain in the area.

"Five or six years ago, there was no one walking down the street," Keenan recalls, around the time he was selling Miles Residences.

Now, that has completely changed. At almost any time of the year, Kirra is abuzz with locals and visitors, and Casilia will sit at the heart of that activity, alongside two of the area's most popular beachside venues, the Kirra Beach Hotel and Kirra Beach House.

The 87 apartments at Casilia will be complemented by Kirra Lane, a new retail and hospitality strip running directly between the established first stage of Kirra Point and the now under-construction second stage.

A 1,700 sqm health club and 91-room boutique hotel will follow as part of the final stage of the precinct.

For Casilia residents, it will put dining, wellness and hospitality quite literally on their doorstep.

Residents will also have their own private amenity on level 14, where a north-facing rooftop will feature a heated 20-metre pool, mineral spa and BBQ cantina overlooking Kirra Beach. Little Boat Projects and O'Neill Architecture have designed the building and interiors around natural stone, warm timber and custom joinery.

Around half of Casilia's apartments have already been snapped up, including several buyers from Miles Residences who are investing in the precinct again, having already experienced both the value proposition and quality KTQ has delivered next door.

Keenan himself was a buyer in Miles Residences, putting him in the somewhat unusual position of selling the next stage of a precinct he has personally invested in.

That long-term commitment extends to KTQ itself.

The group will retain ownership interests across Kirra Point, including Kirra Lane and the Kirra Beach Hotel. It has also retained the two penthouses atop Miles Residences, one for private family use and the other as a luxury holiday rental.

With Casilia targeting completion in 2029, KTQ's involvement at Kirra Point will by then have stretched across almost two decades.

For prospective purchasers, that perhaps puts the scale of the undertaking into perspective. This isn't a developer arriving in a suburb once its potential has become obvious, delivering a building and moving on.

KTQ backed Kirra in 2010, has helped shape its transformation ever since, and is still building out the vision nearly two decades later.

It's a journey that would be extraordinarily difficult to replicate, and one Kirra is unlikely to see again.