Brisbane’s Proposed $2 Billion Entertainment Precinct Could Soon Become Reality

State Government officials on Friday will determine whether or not Brisbane’s proposed $2 billion arena and entertainment precinct is ready to jump to the next level.

Entrepreneur Harvey Lister told The Courier Mail that he expects feedback when he meets with the government to discuss the plansThe Brisbane Live Masterplan for Roma Street was designed by NRA Collaborative and features a 17,000 seat venue able to host a multitude of events from music to indoor sports. The Roma Street edge includes 3 towers delivering commercial, hotel & a signature 90 storey residential tower defining the city frame. The podium to Roma Street would host a variety of retail, dining & cinema attractions to enliven the street edge.

The precinct would also deliver 12 hectares of subtropical parkland and recreation space to enhance the existing Roma Street Parklands, and integrate major public transport & infrastructure including the Roma Street station and platforms, the proposed Cross River Rail, future Brisbane Metro and the relocation of the existing transit centre underground.

The chairman of Brisbane-based international venue management group AEG Ogden, reportedly prepared a 150-page detailed financial brief with the help of JLL to explore the opportunities to attract private investment in hotels, apartments, restaurants, shops, offices and possibly even education or research facilities around the 17,000-seat main arena.

“The redevelopment concept for the whole of the Roma Street site is a truly unique one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we believe its time has come,’’ he told The Courier-Mail.

The Courier-Mail said he was hopeful the proposal could get final approval within a year and wants to see it built by 2021-22 to coincide with the opening of Brisbane’s new $3 billion riverside casino-resort complex just a 10-minute walk away.