Property on Australia’s Gold Coast is being devoured by Chinese investors.

Cash-rich Chinese developers are swooping down on Australia’s popular Gold Coast tourist destination, buying up hundreds of millions of dollars in Coast real estate, including high-rise office and residential sites, luxury condominiums, and even the iconic Palazzo Versace hotel, just as the Japanese did in the 1980s. apartment

But, unlike the Japanese investor of 30 years ago, today’s Chinese moneymen are purchasing bargain-basement goods, while the Japanese paid top dollar for their purchases during the boom years of the 1980s.

Almost all of the property that the Chinese are purchasing now is either heavily in debt or has been foreclosed on by lenders.

When the real estate market collapsed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so did the assets bought by Japanese investors. According to Australian analysts, the latest Chinese buying spree may be as large as or larger than Japan’s record in the 1980s.

Well-heeled Chinese are exporting their greenbacks to various foreign locations with near-term and long-term real estate growth potential, as they are stifled in their own country by ongoing government regulations limiting new construction in almost all real estate categories.

The Courier-Mail of Brisbane reports that “some are doing so behind a veil of secrecy, buying from ‘front’ companies hidden in offshore tax havens.”

According to many recent media stories, here is what Chinese individuals and companies are doing and looking at on Australia’s Gold Coast:

Ridong, based in Guangdong Province, is planning a $1 billion triple-tower development in Surfers Paradise, also known as Australia’s Atlantic City.

The six-building Stillwater apartment project on Hope Island is being developed by Shanghai-based minerals and commodity trading company Minmetals.

The Pacific Alliance group, based in Hong Kong, has purchased a large portion of the Salt housing estate in Kingscliff on the Tweed Coast, as well as bankrupt developer John Fish’s $1 billion Marina Quays project on Hope Island.

The six-star Versace hotel on Main Beach was recently sold for $68.5 million to Chinese investors.

The Hilton and Soul buildings in Surfers Paradise, as well as The Oracle at Broadbeach, another Class A tourist destination on the Gold Coast, have attracted Chinese buyers who have invested millions on luxury apartments in modern high-rise developments.

Several Chinese investors are looking into growth opportunities related to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

A second casino on the tourist strip is being considered by other Chinese developers.

According to The Courier-Mail, a Chinatown is being built for Southport to accommodate some of the 200,000-plus Chinese tourists who visit the Coast each year.

On top of all of this, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate is visiting China, Taiwan, and Macau to promote his city’s growth opportunities to wealthy Chinese investors.

Tate also intends to promote the formation of a Chinese-backed Gold Coast A-League soccer team.