Hilton Surfers Paradise is the first leisure-focused hotel and residences development by Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Australia.

It is also the first international five-star equivalent hotel to be built on the Gold Coast since 2000.

Newly appointed General Manager, David Kelly, brings with him more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry.

At least 15 of those years have been spent with Hilton Worldwide, both in Australia and internationally.

Kelly was most recently the General Manager at Hilton Cairns, where he undertook major refurbishment projects and successfully restructured the business.

Prior to this he was Director of Business Development for Hilton Sydney during the hotel’s refurbishment and subsequent re-launch.

He also spent four years with Hilton in New York.

Kelly says it is a great honor to be appointed as General Manager of the newest and most eagerly-awaited upper upscale hotel to be built on the Gold Coast in years.

“Hilton Surfers Paradise is set to deliver a new standard of contemporary holiday accommodation on the Gold Coast,” he says.

“The development of a hotel and residence concept caters for customers need for additional space and more flexible accommodation options, without sacrificing upscale service and five star facilities.

Hilton Surfers Paradise will be the first hotel and residences offering by the leading accomodation chain in Australia, with 250 one, two and three-bedroom apartments available for holiday-makers.

It consists of two towers, with Boulevard Tower opening its doors to both residents and guests in December and Orchid Tower, consisting of additional residences and a dedicated Hilton Hotel, scheduled to open in mid-2011.

Fibre optic-based telecommuncation services are integrated with wireless services to deliver high speed Internet and managed voice services to the Hilton Hotel, Residents and Retail tenants.

Click here to learn more about the services available for residential customers from Pivit at the Hilton Surfers Paradise.

Since April purchasers have secured or placed deposits on 27 apartments including a mix of two and three-bedroom apartments worth an average $1.5 million.

Tim Willing, from Brookfield Multiplex, says buyers came from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and overseas including China, India, Singapore and Dubai.

“Two of our last four sales have been at the top end of apartments currently available, both three bedroom residences priced between $2 million and $3 million,” he said.

“Our first tower, Boulevard Tower, is already sold out with settlements expected in December 2010 and three-quarters of apartments have now sold in the second tower, Orchid Tower.”

Construction of the Boulevard Tower, which will feature 186 apartments, is on track for completion late this year, while Orchid Tower which will comprise 224 residences and a 169-room Hilton hotel, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2011.

Facilities available at the hotel include a luxury day spa, signature restaurant, executive lounge, gymnasium and swimming pool and a retail precinct at street level.

Hilton Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast) – construction update…

Construction has topped out on the roof of the Boulevard tower of the Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel and Residences on the Gold Coast – reaching 32 levels and 186 residences.

At the same time, work is moving forward on the second and tallest tower, Orchid Tower, which is currently at level 14 and due for completion in late 2011.

It will feature 57 levels and include luxury residential apartments and a Hilton Hotel.

The basement car park excavation has reached the B5 level, which is the lowest basement in the total of 6 levels.

With only 37 opportunities remaining within the development, this is the final opportunity to secure a private Hilton residence. Click here for more details on Hilton Surfers Paradise.

The latest quarterly report by Colliers International highlighted Surfers Paradise, Southport and Labrador as hot spots in 2010, with house and unit prices set to soar between seven and 10 per cent.

Helensvale, Varsity Lakes, Robina and Tugun, located close to major shopping centres and the Pacific Motorway, also made the list of best buys.

Colliers research director Aaron Maskrey said Gold Coast property prices were set to rise rapidly this year, as the beachside region bounced back in the wake of the global financial crisis.

“After the challenging year of 2009… due to the global economic conditions impacting on the Gold Coast property market, hot spots for 2010 will focus on areas where recovery will most likely thrive,” he said.

But property analyst Michael Matusik said the price recovery on the Gold Coast could be limited, as the market had performed as poorly as expected in 2009.

“The Gold Coast market, and in particular Surfers Paradise, has been getting a caning of late,” Mr Matusik said.

“There is no question that the Gold Coast is doing it tougher than the rest, with our data [which is based on cleaned up resales] showing that apartment values fell nine per cent during 2008 and a further four per cent last year,” he said.

“According to the latest Queensland government valuations issued in March, ocean-front land has fallen by 30 per cent on the coast.

“But ocean-front apartment values in Surfers Paradise at least actually rose last year – up by 8.9 per cent.”

Mr Maskrey said the property compass has pointed towards suburbs to be serviced by the Gold Coast’s planned Rapid Transit System, although the first stage of the $949 million project is not due to be completed until 2014.

Median prices in each of the listed hot spots ranged from $320,000 for units to $515,000 for houses at the end of 2009 according to the report.

But Mr Maskrey said the completion of the Rapid Transit System and developments in Surfers Paradise, including the Soul and Hilton towers, could soon see property prices jump up to 10 per cent as local residents are attracted back to the tourist hub.

However, local buyers will face competition from foreign investors.

During December and January, the Juniper Group reportedly secured seven sales amounting to $10 million at its 77-storey, $850 million Soul development in the heart of Surfers Paradise, for Chinese, Indonesian and New Zealand investors.

Overseas buyers injected $407 million into the state’s residential market last financial year, of which 45 per cent was spent on the Gold Coast.

Mr Maskrey said first-home buyers may find better value for money in Helensvale where townhouses and units were priced in the $300′s.

“Helensvale is home to a Westfield Shopping Centre and has easy access to the M1 and a railway station,” he said.

THE Raptis Group yesterday confirmed it was negotiating with Brookfield Multiplex over a possible tie-up on its Hilton Surfers Paradise project.

In a brief statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, the listed Gold Coast developer said discussions with Brookfield Multiplex were ‘ongoing’ and ‘no agreement has been concluded’.

The ASX statement came in res-ponse to a report yesterday in The Gold Coast Bulletin which exclusively revealed Multiplex to be a possible buyer or joint-venture partner for the $700 million Hilton project, which is being undertaken on the site of the former Dolphin Arcade.

Neither Raptis Group nor Brookfield Multiplex would comment on the negotiations, but sources said they were close to finalisation.

“We confirm that we will inform the market once there is a binding agreement,” said Raptis Group.

Brookfield Multiplex is controlled by Canadian investment powerhouse Brookfield Asset Management, which last year privatised listed builder Multiplex in a $4.2 billion takeover.

Raptis has been seeking a joint-venture partner for the Hilton Surfers Paradise project after putting all its Gold Coast assets on the market in a bid to reduce its $750 million debt.

Sources said Brookfield Multiplex was a potential outright purchaser of the Hilton, but the Raptis announcement yesterday said Multiplex intended to take ‘a role in the project’.

RAPTIS Group appears to be close to hitching up its first major financial lifeline, with a deal said to be imminent on the sale of its Hilton Surfers Paradise project.

Market speculation has centred on construction giant Brookfield Multiplex as a likely buyer of the $700 million project, work on which has slowed in the wake of Raptis Group’s emergency debt-reduction program.

Multiplex, the former listed builder of the troubled Wembley Stadium in the UK, is now controlled by Canadian investment powerhouse Brookfield Asset Management and is understood to be seeking value from major development opportunities amid the current economic crisis.

Brookfield Multiplex would neither confirm nor deny yesterday that a deal was in the pipeline, while Raptis Group chairman Jim Raptis did not return calls.

But market sources have confirmed an agreement is close to being finalised.

Last month, Mr Raptis said he was searching for an equity partner to continue with the Hilton development, which is taking shape on the former Dolphin Arcade.

The move was part of a massive asset sales campaign to reduce Raptis Group’s $750 million debt, forced after receivers took control of the third tower of Southport Central on September 10.

While the receivers are now completing Southport Central, Raptis Group has been scouring the market for buyers of its prime Gold Coast assets, including the Sheraton Mirage, the Iluka apartment tower and about 40 apartments in The Sands tower on the Esplanade at Surfers Paradise.

The sales campaign for the Sheraton is close to being wrapped up and, although it has attracted offers from offshore and domestic parties through an expressions of interest campaign, some analysts are predicting the property will fetch less than the $100 million originally expected.

Expressions of interest for the Sheraton Mirage close today.

Marketing agent Dan McVay yesterday said the property had generated ‘a lot of interest’, but he declined to comment further.

Sources say the property could achieve a price of up to $90 million.

Ironically, deteriorating market conditions are said to be the reason behind Brookfield Multiplex taking an interest in the Hilton Surfers Paradise.

Brookfield Multiplex is understood to have been searching the property market for new projects.

Last month, it was forced to close subscriptions to its $165 million Multiplex Development and Opportunity Fund, citing its new focus on large-scale projects in the wake of dwindling opportunities at the bottom end of the market.

The Hilton, with its strong brand and solid uptake from foreign investors, is seen as fitting in with that strategy.

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, an investment company that specialises in property, power and infrastructure assets, acquired Multiplex last year in a $4.2 billion privatisation deal.

Brookfield Asset Management controls about $100 billion in assets.

However, the global funding crisis raised doubts this week over Brookfield Multiplex’s $1 billion City Square office tower planned for Perth, despite BHP committing to 80 per cent of the space in the project.

Brookfield Multiplex has denied the tower was in doubt.

Despite market turbulence, Brookfield Asset Management delivered a solid profit of $US307 million ($458 million) for the six months to the end of June, down from $US348 million a year earlier.