David Devine has lodged a development application for a $1.5 billion over-55s lifestyle community at 60 Marine Parade, Southport. Three towers. 626 apartments. More than 13,000 square metres of health and wellness amenity.
It is one of the largest projects ever proposed for the Gold Coast.
And it is worth looking at closely. Not because of the scale, but because of what it signals about where residential development is heading.
The Over-55s Market Is Being Taken Seriously
For a long time, retirement living sat in a corner of the property market that most premium developers largely ignored.
The product was functional. The design was uninspired. The assumption was that older Australians wanted comfort and convenience but would not pay for exceptional quality.
That assumption is being challenged.
The demographic now entering the over-55s market is different. They are healthier and more active than previous generations. Many are coming off the sale of high-value family homes. They have money and expectations to match.
The DD Resort Living model is built around that shift. Wellness facilities spanning multiple building levels. Recovery suites. Private cinemas. Dining and bar spaces. The kind of offering that would not look out of place in a five-star hotel.
Whether the market absorbs it at that price point is still to be seen. But the direction of travel is clear.
What 13,145 Square Metres of Amenity Actually Means
To put the wellness component in perspective, 13,145 square metres is roughly the footprint of two full-size NRL fields.
That is not a gym and a pool. That is a vertically integrated wellness precinct embedded across three towers, from podium level through to rooftop.
It includes studios for yoga, Pilates, meditation and group fitness. Recovery and vitality suites. Spa and bathhouse facilities. Sporting and recreation areas.
For builders and contractors who will eventually price and deliver this work, the complexity is substantial. Fitout of specialised wellness spaces is a different proposition to standard apartment interiors. Acoustic requirements, hydraulics, ventilation and equipment loads all add layers of coordination.
Projects at this scale and specification tend to attract a tight pool of capable contractors. That has implications for procurement, program and cost.
The Site and the Planning Process
The application has been formally lodged with Gold Coast City Council.
The site at 60 Marine Parade is 1.4 hectares on the Broadwater foreshore. The towers rise 52, 41 and 58 storeys respectively. Around 9,000 square metres of commercial space is included.
The site was formerly home to the Star of the Sea school, which means the development involves a change of use from institutional to residential and commercial. That brings its own planning considerations around heritage, community consultation, traffic and infrastructure.
The DA process on a project of this nature is not quick. Major mixed-use and high-rise applications on the Gold Coast typically move through multiple stages of assessment, referral and public notification.
Approval is not guaranteed, and the timeline from lodgement to construction start on a $1.5 billion project involves a significant number of steps.
Context: What Devine Has Already Delivered
The Southport proposal is not Devine’s first move at this scale.
His existing DD Living portfolio includes Royale Gold Coast at Northcliffe, a $480 million, 104-apartment absolute beachfront development scheduled for completion in Q2 2026, and Burly Residences at Burleigh Heads, a $544 million, 101-apartment project currently under construction.
Those two projects alone represent more than a billion dollars in development. The Southport application sits on top of that.
For the construction supply chain on the Gold Coast, the cumulative demand from these projects is meaningful. Labour, materials, crane capacity, specialist trades, project management talent. At a time when the market is already stretched in parts, the sequencing of major projects matters.
What the Broader Over-55s Sector Looks Like
Australia’s population is ageing. That is not a new observation, but the scale is worth understanding.
By 2057, the number of Australians aged 65 and over is projected to more than double. The demand for housing that suits older Australians is not a niche market. It is a structural feature of where the country is heading.
The current over-55s sector covers a wide spectrum, from affordable land-lease communities through to high-end vertical developments like the one Devine is proposing. The premium end of that market has historically been undersupplied relative to demand from wealthier retirees.
Projects like DD Resort Living are testing how far the market will stretch at the top end. The answer will have implications for how other developers approach the segment.
The Questions Worth Watching
A few things are worth tracking as this project progresses.
The first is planning. How Gold Coast City Council responds to the height, scale and change of use will set a marker for similar proposals in the corridor.
The second is construction market capacity. A project of this complexity needs a delivery team with genuine depth. Finding that on the Gold Coast, across a construction market that is already carrying significant workload, will be one of the early challenges.
The third is timing. From DA lodgement to first residents moving in on a $1.5 billion, three-tower development is typically a five to ten year journey. A lot can change in that window, including interest rates, market sentiment and the competitive landscape for over-55s product.
None of that is a reason to dismiss the project. But it is a reminder that a lodged DA and a completed development are separated by a long road.
What It Means for Builders
For contractors and trades operating on the Gold Coast and in South East Queensland, the DD Resort Living announcement is worth filing away.
If the project progresses through planning and moves toward procurement, the scale of the wellness fitout, the commercial tenancy work and the residential delivery across three towers will generate significant subcontract opportunity.
It will also demand high capability. This is not a straightforward residential play. The specification, the complexity and the client expectations for a project at this price point will be demanding.
Builders who want to be part of work like this need to be building those relationships and demonstrating that capability now, not when the tender documents drop.
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