Mick Fanning has thrown his weight behind a Gold Coast surf and golf resort. Photo: Palm Valley Gold Coast
Mick Fanning has three world titles under his belt. That’s an accomplishment most surfers won’t achieve, but there are countless stories of young champions that squander their success, only to find themselves in dire straits once they’ve aged out of their chosen profession. Not Mick, though. Mick isn’t just a world champion — he’s also a very savvy businessman. His most recent endeavor? A Gold Coast surf and golf resort.
According to reports, the Palm Valley Gold Coast Resort will run about $300 million. It is one of the Gold Coasts biggest developments in years, and Fanning’s got his fingers in the pie.
Fanning, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, and Luke Altschwater, the Managing Director at Golf Development Partners, joined forces to create the resort, which will feature a wave pool, an 18-hole golf course, a high-performance surf center, a gym, a beach club, a brewery, and over 200 apartments.
“Luke is from the golfing world and knows the hospitality side. He wanted credible people on the surfing side,” Fanning told The Australian Financial Review. “He gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
The wave pool will use Endless Surf technology, a relative newcomer to the wave pool game with development projects in Houston, Coachella Valley, Lisbon, Saudi Arabia, and Munich.
Endless Surf, if the press is to be believed, can pump out an uninterrupted flow of waves, which lets surfers catch many more in a session. Fanning recently gave it a shot, and he was impressed.
“It was really exciting to catch 150 waves in four hours,” he said. “Surfers will travel anywhere to catch a wave.”
As is the case in all of these big projects, developers are hopeful that it will create a whole swathe of economic benefits. This one in particular is forecasting 760 construction jobs, 473 permanent jobs, and up to 900,000 annual visitors.
This isn’t Fanning’s first kick at the business can. Along with Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge, and Josh Kerr, Fanning was one of the co-founders of Balter Brewing Co. They sold it to Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) for what was likely a good chunk of change. The number that floated around the rumor mill was in the vicinity of $200 million, although that hasn’t been confirmed. CUB is a certifiable beer-company giant, with brands like Corona, Stella Artois, Victoria Bitter, Strongbow, and even Budweiser under its umbrella. He also has a soft surfboard line fittingly called Mick Fanning Softboards. He’s also known to more than just dabble in real estate.
The Gold Coast is chock full of people who love surfing and golf, so it’s likely that Fanning’s investment in the Palm Valley Gold Coast Resort will pay off in spades.
