[+] Developers Planning a Podium Finish for Games Gateway

As any long distance runner will tell you, good things come slow.

Just shy of nine years before it becomes the epicentre of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, inner-city Woolloongabba on the city’s southside is yet to hit its stride.

But as the clock keeps ticking the race plan is finally coming together—and a growing field of towering development proposals awaits the starter’s gun.

The trigger, however, won’t be pulled for at least another 12 months.  

Meanwhile, the Queensland Government has declared the official parameters of its expanded Woolloongabba Priority Development Area.

Spanning 106ha—an area more than 40 times the size of the famed Gabba sporting field— it encompasses a wider chunk of Woolloongabba as well as surrounding Kangaroo Point, East Brisbane, South Bank and the Stanley Street precinct.

The expanded urban renewal zone—superseding the Woolloongabba Cross River Rail PDA—is aimed at providing “a more integrated and co-ordinated planning approach for the whole suburb”.

It is also touted as the catalyst for the delivery of “thousands of new homes”—with a 20 per cent requirement of new stock being “high quality social or affordable housing” to accommodate frontline or key workers.

As well, the state government is maintaining its commitment to set aside 50 per cent of the Cross River Rail and Stadium precinct as green space.

“We have a unique opportunity to capitalise on Queensland’s growth and 2032 to create a thriving inner-city suburb,” Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles said.

“The larger Woolloongabba PDA will transform the area as the southern gateway to Brisbane’s city centre.

“Major projects like the Gabba [stadium] redevelopment, Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro will bring investment to the area, and we’ll see more jobs and more housing.

▲ A render of the Brisbane Olympics precinct with the planned $2.7-billion  50,000-seat Gabba Stadium.

“It will also allow for better connections into the CBD and beyond and more active transport options, including a walkable spine from The Gabba to Roma Street [in the CBD] through South Bank.”

But, and somewhat ironically, developers looking to accelerate projects though the PDA’s streamlined planning and assessment processes will have to wait.

The detailed planning and community engagement necessary to complete the development scheme is not due to be finalised until “around September 2024”.

In the meantime, an interim land use plan (ILUP) will be in effect for the next 12 months.

Defining the boundaries of the PDA was a “step in the right direction”  by the state government, says developer Sarazin’s managing director Darren Dougan.

“It’s a positive step and we’re delighted it has finally happened,” he says.

But Dougan adds: “We still don’t know all the details and it’s going to take 12 months until all that is resolved … there’s a whole heap of things they’re looking at and, from our point of view, we like the fact that there’s going to be additional infrastructure and green space coming into the Gabba.

“But the sooner they come up with a plan, the better for everyone.”

Sydney-based Sarazin is among the major stakeholders within the newly-declared Woolloongabba PDA, with six newly upscaled apartment towers planned across three sites totalling almost 1.4ha.

It has recently filed amended plans for the trio of holdings with the Brisbane City Council, increasing their yield by 63 per cent—from 986 to 1609 apartments.

They include its planned Nuage dual towers rising 27 and 37 storeys with 582 apartments on a 4057sq m site at 6-18 Wellington Rd and 25 Nile Street; the triple tower Hampton Yards proposal of 18, 30 and 40 storeys with 787 apartments on a 7148sq m site at 15-21 Wellington Road; and the 27-storey Murcia with 240 apartments on a 2671 sq m site at 9 Overend Street and 31-33 Wellington Road.

“Overall, it's an exciting time to be developing in this area,” says Sarazin’s Queensland director Adam Rainbird. “But there's obviously still a lot of information to be discussed and to come from the state government.

“And [the Brisbane Olympics] is just under nine years away, so the faster we can gain more clarity the better it is, not only for us but the private sector that’s looking to develop, because then we can understand the playing field and what can and can’t be done.”

Sarazin made its move into the Woolloongabba market before Brisbane was confirmed as the host of the 2032 Olympics and has already completed Silk One, a 20-storey tower with 172 apartments overlooking the Gabba Stadium. It is part of its three-tower Silk Lane project on Stanley Street. 

“Constraints around construction are still the big issue,” Sarazin’s Darren Dougan says. “But, generally speaking, with the new train station coming in we’re pretty confident that the Gabba is going to become a more desired place to live. 

“And so we’re looking at growing additional density across the precinct, which I think aligns with what the state government wants to do anyway.”

Speaking at an Urban Land Institute event recently, head of Economic Development Queensland, Debbie McNamara said Queensland had “growth at its front door, but it’s a good problem to have”.

▲ A render of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics at the redeveloped Gabba Stadium.

She said the expanded Woolloongabba PDA represented an opportunity to reshape the suburb from its industrial past to a mixed-use high density future. 

“The Gabba is an enormous opportunity but it's pretty complex, we will have the Olympics overlay (to contend with).

“I know we're not going to make everyone happy but I think we can get some great outcomes.”

There is a slew of gamechanging projects in the blocks for the newly-expanded Woolloongabba PDA.

Among them is a recently-lodged four-tower scheme spanning 9361sq m site at 79 Logan Road. One tower is slated for a 230-room hotel and serviced apartments while the other three would comprise more than 1380 build-to-rent apartments.

Todd Brown’s Brisbane-based Belmonde Property Group is behind the $1.5-billion development proposal—dubbed the Gabba Heart Precinct—in a joint venture with Sun Luxe Group.

Earlier this year, Trenert Group lodged plans for a $1.2-billion, five-tower mixed-use development that would span almost an entire Woollangabba block with the heritage-listed Railway Hotel—previously also known as the Chalk Hotel—as its centrepiece.

▲ A render of Trenert Group’s multi-tower mixed-use development proposal.

It followed the Queensland and federal governments reaching a $7-billion-plus funding agreement to supercharge preparations for the Brisbane Games along with a decision to expand the Gabba Olympic Priority Development Area.

Trenert plans to deliver 200,000sq m of gross building area by 2030—including a 40-storey-plus five-star international hotel with 320 suites, 36-level residential tower with 165 apartments, 18-level short-term accommodation tower and 16-level tower with 114 social and affordable housing units in partnership with community housing provider BlueCHP.

It also includes a 22-level commercial tower with 50,000sq m of office space, retail plaza and food and beverage outlets totalling 6000sq m and 7000sq m of open and green space.

Nearby, developer Aria Property Group has recently seized the development opportunity of the emerging Olympic hub and filed upscaled plans for its Canopy House apartment tower already under construction on a 1500sq m site at the corner of Leopard and Vulture streets, Kangaroo Point.

Under the revised proposal, Aria is seeking to increase the building height from its approved 22 storeys to 30 storeys and residential density from 105 to 136 apartments.

No doubt there will be more projects taking their marks on the newly-declared Woolloongabba PDA’s development starting line.

And 12 months from now, the race will be on.

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