Dude, there’s your luxury car in the lounge

A company that wants to deliver affluent Main Beach apartment buyers the opportunity to admire their expensive cars without leaving their lounge chairs might be an "unknown" but it's quietly been cruising below the surface.

Ignite Projects has just completed and settled a 31-apartment building overlooking Palm Beach. The building's chosen name, Periscope, doesn't reflect Ignite's virtually nonexistent profile on the Gold Coast.

Now the Kiwi owners of the group can't avoid the limelight, by virtue of their ambitions. Main Beach plans for a building with a mere 11 apartments.

The 23-level The Monaco, designed by Rothelowman Architects, is planned on a tight 483 sqm site at 2 MacArthur Pde. It is intended to offer opulence and, with a retail value of $50 million or more, is a step up from the $20 million Periscope in every way.

The men behind Ignite and The Monaco are Gold Coast-based Josh Foote and diverse Auckland developer Garry Gordon. They worked together in New Zealand 15 years ago and teamed up for Periscope.

The major point of difference at The Monaco is the plan to have two car lifts — one for basement parking and the other servicing one-car glass-encased parking galleries in each apartment. They'll allow owners to drool over their Rolls-Royces and Aston Martins without leaving their apartments.

Another point of difference likely to be touted is the offer to have buyers design their own Italian-made kitchens. Ignite has a code-assessable development application before the city council and is also reportedly eyeing other Gold Coast sites and one on the Sunshine Coast.