Prime Kangaroo Point Site Listed After 40-Year Quest

A Brisbane woman is listing six two-bedroom apartments all in one line on Brisbane’s prime riverfront land at Kangaroo Point after a 40-year campaign to acquire the entire block. 

Kangaroo Point resident Christine Loman bought up the first apartment in 1981 for $56,000, and managed to acquire the final piece of the puzzle last year for $900,000.

According to Corelogic data Loman spent more than $2.5 million acquiring all six properties on the 797sq m riverfront site at 4 MacDonald Street, which is being marketed with JLL.

“I was fascinated by the peninsular appearance of the area; the way it felt like an island with the Story Bridge across to the Valley, isolated, and yet so close to everything, and then a little council boat to ferry you across the river every 15 minutes,” she said.

“While the strategic significance was not clear to me at the time, I was aware of the potential of the area.

“I did initially have a plan to turn the existing structure into three, three-level integrated small office combined residences.”

▲ Corelogic data shows the vendor spent more than $2.5 million across a 40-year period to acquire all six apartments at 4 MacDonald Street at Kangaroo Point.

While Loman’s plans to develop the site did not come to fruition, she did manage to acquire all six properties, paving the way for her to take the site to market. 

JLL agents Tim Jones and Harry Borger are marketing the site as a development opportunity as Brisbane’s luxury apartment market crystalises. 

“The luxury apartment market in Brisbane shows no signs of slowing down, with benchmark results on price and rate per square metre seemingly being challenged each month,” Jones said.

“In 2023 alone there have been four penthouse apartment sales in excess of $10 million—the highest of those being a $16.52-million sale in New Farm—with three of the top four having river frontage.

“Of the top 10 historic apartment sales in Brisbane, eight of those have changed hands since 2022, with three in Kangaroo Point, highlighting the strength of the apartment market generally and more specifically for river-fronting projects.”

▲ Spyre Group has tapped Contrast Constructions to deliver its luxury six-apartment project at New Farm.

Jones said he expected the competition would be fierce and the property would appeal to the apartment developer market, which could build a five or six-storey building with whole floor apartments. 

“The size of a lot of the luxury apartment sales where they are garnering these incredible rates per square metre, and these big-ticket prices, are within boutique complexes for the most part,” he said.

Across the river, Spyre Group is readying its Moray House site to break ground after demolitions this year and the off-the-plan sale of its two-storey penthouse, which sold for a record $15.75 million. 

Another Brisbane apartment, a skyhome in the Argyle development, sold for $16.5 million at New Farm earlier this year, smashing the city’s unit sale price record.