Tower Dispute Dissolves as Brisbane Offices Sell for $13.2m

A planning row between Infinity Tower residents and a developer appears done and dusted after the proposed site in the Brisbane CBD sold for $13.2 million.

Developer Capricorn Asset Management this month offloaded 33 Herschel Street, achieving 43 per cent growth over three years.

Plans for the 911sq m site received plenty of backlash from residents of the neighbouring Meriton tower at 43 Herschel Street.

Capricorn had proposed a 44-storey “undulating” skinny office tower for the site and submitted plans to the Brisbane City Council in December, 2022.

The plans went on exhibition in September, 2023 and received 58 submissions expressing concerns about loss of city views, privacy, height, bulk and setbacks. 

The council raised its own issues with the application and exchanged updates with the planners for the site on March 21. The sale of the property was revealed April 2.

The buyer is an Asia-Pacific education operator who intends to move in after the current tenant’s lease expires.

The three-storey, freehold commercial property was built in 1975 and refurbished in 2013. It is fully occupied by Cross River Rail contractors.

▲ Plans for the now-sold building at 33 Herschel Street, Brisbane, were not greeted warmly by neighbours.

Colliers Queensland Asia markets director Tony Wang said the sale reflected a strong initial passing yield of 4.47 per cent.

“There remains a strong influx of Asia-Pacific capital into Brisbane’s commercial real estate market including investors, owner-occupiers, and developers,” Wang said.

“Even though there have been several unsuccessful commercial asset marketing campaigns with the lowest levels of office transactions in Brisbane since the onset of Covid in 2020.”

The markets director said the sub-$30 million bracket was particularly strong due to its stable fundamentals and globally competitive resilience. 

Colliers Queensland director Troy Linnane said the property was in the heart of the CBD’s North Quarter precinct, an area experiencing substantial government infrastructure and commercial development.

“The site’s ... existing improvements offer 1749sq m of net lettable area and it is zoned PC1 [Principal Centre] with development potential up to a height of 274 metres,” Linnane said.

“For some time, industry experts have been forecasting that Brisbane would be the best-performing capital city market during the coming three years—this deal reflects this sentiment.”

The deal was one of only three sub-$20 million freehold commercial office buildings transacted in the Brisbane CBD during the past 12 months.