TourismKirsten CrazeFri 25 Sep 26
Nine Network’s Mt Coot-tha Exit Opens Door to New Era for Mountain
A sprawling Mt Coot-tha site that was the Nine Network’s Queensland base for 67 years has come to market and parties keen to cash in on a broader redevelopment of the mountain are circling already.
Sxpressions of interest for the 2.54ha freehold listing at 654 Sir Samuel Griffith Drive are due to close on October 28. Savills agents Josh Baker and Robert Dunne are handling the campaign.
Nine announced to staff earlier this month that the business was exploring options for a “unified future home” in Queensland, therefore cutting ties with the landmark address considered the birthplace of television in the Sunshine State.
The property has about 215m of frontage and includes office and studio facilities, extensive parking, a helipad and associated broadcasting infrastructure.
Marketing material described the holding as having an “established development footprint” that could support future occupation, adaptive reuse and repositioning, subject to approval.
Dunne said the property had already attracted diverse interest within two days of being listed.
“We’ve had inquiry from Asia and Europe. At the moment, those parties are still investigating the development potential of it,” he said.
“There’s been significant excitement about the location as a destination for Brisbane for some time. It’s more than just the prospect of seeing the sunrise over Brisbane, it’s the possibility of that whole Mt Coot-tha precinct the has people talking.”
Neighbouring sites housing Channel Seven and Paramount+, which owns Channel 10, are also reportedly in discussions to leave Mt Coot-tha.
The communications role of Mt Coot-tha dates to 1947, with land leased in 1957 for the ABC and three commercial television stations. QTQ9 began broadcasting from the mountain in 1959.
“So, in addition to this current property, there are more sites up there with an ability to create a really amazing precinct with extraordinary possibility. And that's all being explored at the moment,” Dunne said.
The evolution of the area comes as the Brisbane City Council develops a long-term “world-class ecotourism destination” vision for Mt Coot-tha, a precinct that already attracts more than a million visitors a year.
The Mt Coot-tha Neighbourhood Plan is a long-term masterplan led by the Brisbane Sustainability Agency to turn the area into an eco-tourism hub ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Within the council’s plan, the Natural Area and Recreation Precinct supports the reuse of existing infrastructure for uses including nature-based tourism, hospitality and outdoor recreation.
The council’s current proposals include a 170km wilderness trail, an accessible treetop walk, glamping, new mountain-bike facilities, improved picnic areas, a planetarium upgrade and a long-term transformation of the Mt Coot-tha Quarry.
