Famous skyline: The Surfers Paradise district in Gold Coast.Image: www.imago-images.de
A new skyscraper is to be built on Australia’s east coast – the tallest in the country. The project has a name that divides the community.
March 5, 2026, 9:31 p.mMarch 5, 2026, 9:31 p.m
Anna-Lena Janzen / t-online
The Gold Coast, a coastal strip with several districts on Australia’s east coast, is synonymous with surfing and fitness culture, sunny weather and miles of beaches. But above all, it is known for its skyscrapers – towers that glitter in the sun and seem to grow straight from the surf into the sky.
Now another skyscraper is to be added – the tallest of all. It bears the name of a family that not only stands for spectacular real estate projects, but also currently shapes the political power structure in the USA: Trump.
“Australia’s tallest building”
The “Trump International Hotel & Tower” is to be built on a site in Surfers Paradise, a district of the Gold Coast south of Brisbane that is popular with tourists – just a few steps from the Pacific. At 335 to 340 meters high and 91 floors, the tower is expected to be the “tallest building in Australia”.
There have been rumors of such a project in the region for a long time. At the beginning of February, project developer David Young from Altus Property Group announced that he had signed the agreement on February 14th at US President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida. “Early construction work” has already been approved, said Young. Construction is scheduled to start in August and be completed by the end of the decade.
In addition to the hotel, 270 luxury residences, a private beach club and retail and catering areas are also planned. The construction will be financed entirely by private investors from Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the USA. With 91 floors, the tower would tower over the region’s previous record holder: the approximately 322 meter high Q1 Tower, which has dominated the skyline since 2005 with its almost 80 floors and a viewing platform that can be seen from afar.
Resistance to Trump Tower – thousands of signatures already
But there is resistance to the project. Residents warn in an online petition that was started in January and has now collected more than 128,000 signatures. They fear further densification of the coastline, possible environmental impacts and additional strain on the infrastructure. The name of the project in particular makes many people uncomfortable.
“In addition to fears of excessive development, many residents feel deeply uncomfortable with the Trump brand and what it stands for,” writes one of the initiators, Craig Hill, a teacher who himself lives on the Gold Coast. In his argument, he criticizes, among other things, the Trump administration’s policies – in particular the tough migration course, which many Australians perceive as inhumane and discriminatory. “These measures do not reflect the values we stand for in Australia,” it says. A Trump-named development on the Gold Coast would therefore “send the wrong message about who we are as a community and what we are willing to support”.