Brisbane's Historic Howard Smith Wharves Gets Luxury Upgrade

The

Howard Smith Wharves Revitalisation Project has been jogged back into to action, with the developer announced by Lord Mayor Graham Quirk last week.

A luxury boutique hotel is set to accompany restaurants, cafes, bars and an exhibition space as well as a new public space and parklands, in an area under the Storey Bridge that is currently neglected.

The developer was announced by Cr Quirk as HSW Consortium which is being headed by Adam Flaskas and Elisha Bickle.

The 3.43 hectare site will still only consist of 20 per cent commercial space and 80 per cent will be used as parklands and space for the public to enjoy.

"There will be magnificent public spaces and parkland to ensure residents can enjoy diverse recreational opportunities in a prime riverside location," Cr Quirk said.

"New buildings occupy only 10 per cent of the site, public space and parkland cover 80 per cent of the site with the remaining 10 per cent involving the preservation of the historic wharves."

The announcement is warmly welcomed after years of debate over how the site should be dealt with and the project having been scraped by the Bligh government in 2011.

The indecisiveness of the site was partially due to the sensitivity of the site.

"The historic Howard Smith Wharves have been largely disused for decades and both Council and the Brisbane community wanted to ensure that any new development would give the heritage buildings a new lease of life," Cr Quirk said.

The hotel is to be developed and operated by

Asian Pacific Group, as well as a 1,500 square metre exhibition space and an underground car park for approximately 350 vehicles.

It will be designed to blend with the cliff face and keep the Story Bridge as the main focus of the city view.

The hotel will be three storeys in height and the facade will be neutral in colour and texture, to ensure the structure has a minimal visual impact.

Council has already undertaken cliff stabilisation works, minor repairs to the heritage buildings and constructed a 170 metre long timber wharf beneath the Story Bridge to make the area safe for public access and capture its history as a working wharf.