QLDFirst look: Morris Property Group returns to Mermaid Beach with new Seabeach Avenue apartment developmentFirst look: Morris Property Group returns to Mermaid Beach with new Seabeach Avenue apartment development
Longstanding Gold Coast and Canberra developer Morris Property Group is continuing to roll on with its Glitter Strip apartment pipeline, seeking to return to Mermaid Beach with a new 68-apartment development.
Morris, founded by Barry Morris in 1978 and one of the Gold Coast’s most prolific apartment developers over the past two decades, has filed plans for a 12-storey mixed-use building at 34-36 Seabeach Avenue, on the prized eastern side of the Gold Coast Highway.
The 1,227 sqm site occupies a prominent corner position at Seabeach Avenue and the Gold Coast Highway, opposite the Mermaid Plaza retail and office precinct and around 140 metres walking distance from the future Mermaid Beach South light rail station.
Fraser & Partners has designed the project, which will comprise 68 apartments across a mix of 48 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom residences.
The building will rise 12 storeys, reaching a maximum height of 36 metres, with the apartments accounting for a total of 156 bedrooms. The development application also seeks approval for short-term accommodation across the 68 apartments, while two office tenancies are proposed at ground level.
The plans show 108 car spaces across the development, with parking accommodated at ground level and within a three-level basement accessed from Seabeach Avenue.
Resident amenity will be concentrated on level two, where Fraser & Partners has designed a recreation deck with a swimming pool, 90 sqm pool terrace, outdoor barbecue area and gym.
The broader communal offering will also incorporate landscaped spaces, with the planning documents noting the amenity has been designed to provide areas for recreation, social interaction and outdoor living.
The proposal would continue the transformation of the Gold Coast Highway corridor through Mermaid Beach ahead of the arrival of the light rail.
The site is zoned Neighbourhood Centre and sits within the Mermaid Beach/Broadbeach Light Rail Corridor neighbourhood plan. While the prescribed building height is 24 metres, the site is identified within an Urban Neighbourhood context providing for a 50 per cent height uplift to 36 metres.
Planning documents describe the stretch of the Gold Coast Highway between Broadbeach and Nobby Beach as increasingly characterised by medium and high-rise development, with the proposed Morris tower joining projects including Ventura, The Alfred, Oceans and Otto.
The development would mark Morris Property Group's latest investment in Mermaid Beach, where it has already delivered two apartment projects.
Otto, at 1 Bondi Avenue on the western side of the Gold Coast Highway, comprises 70 apartments across nine storeys. The project was completed in 2019 and includes a residents' gym, recreation deck and swimming pool.
Morris also developed Oceans at 46 Ocean Street, a nine-storey, 70-apartment build-to-rent development completed in 2019. Oceans was the group's first build-to-rent project and incorporates commercial space at ground level.
The two existing Morris projects sit further north along the same Gold Coast Highway corridor as the proposed Seabeach Avenue development. Fraser & Partners' planning analysis specifically identifies both Otto and Oceans among the established built-form precedents surrounding the site.
Mermaid Beach represents only part of Morris' considerable Gold Coast footprint.
The family-owned developer has been particularly active in neighbouring Broadbeach, delivering projects including Sierra Grand, Eclipse, Synergy, Qube, Koko, Opus and Malo, while its current pipeline includes Maison and the two-tower Crest development.
Further south, Morris has also developed a string of projects in Burleigh Heads, including Element, Boardwalk and Sandbar, while Essentia expanded its footprint north into Surfers Paradise.
The Seabeach Avenue application has been lodged by PMM Broadbeach Pty Ltd and seeks a development permit for a Material Change of Use for multiple dwellings, short-term accommodation and office uses. Zone Planning Group prepared the planning application, with Fraser & Partners commissioned as architect.
The project comes as the developer continues to expand its Gold Coast pipeline while retaining a significant presence in Canberra. Morris now has more than $2.5 billion of development in its national pipeline and has delivered more than 7,000 homes during its near five-decade history
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is the Editor in Chief at Apartments.com.au, where he leads the editorial team and oversees the country’s most comprehensive news coverage dedicated to the off the plan property market. With more than a decade of experience in residential real estate journalism, Joel brings deep insight into Australia’s evolving development landscape.
He holds a degree in Business Management with a major in Journalism from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, and has developed a particular expertise in off the plan apartment space. Joel’s editorial lens spans the full lifecycle of a project, from site acquisition and planning approvals through to new launches, construction completions, and final sell-out, delivering trusted, buyer-focused content that supports informed decision-making across the property journey
