Revealed: Brisbane’s new city crossroads formed by underground rail

Brisbane city will have a new crossroads, a new vertical village and a new public space linked to the first new CBD rail station in 120 years.

With Cross River Rail’s underground Albert Street Station set to open in 2025, the city heart is expected to shift away from Queen Street Mall.

An artist’s impression of the commercial tower planned for the site directly across from the Cross River Rail site on Albert Street in Brisbane.

Here, 67,000 people each weekday will take escalators to and from the busy platforms, and out to the new Albert Street streetscape.

While the underground tunnels and railway are being completed by the consortia of firms known as the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, the above-ground development is being run by Queensland Investment Corporation, the investment adviser for the Queensland government.

QIC on Friday announced the first part of that above-ground investment: a tropical-looking, $750 million, 40-storey commercial office tower on Albert and Mary streets to be finished by 2027.

CRDA chief executive Graeme Newton said the office tower was expected to mark the centre of Brisbane’s new CBD.

“Albert Street will be the centre point of the city. It will be the crossroads of the city,” Newton said.

“It will become the new Central Station. Mary and Albert streets geographically will be in the centre.

“This is where people will gather. It will be a meeting place. People will say, ‘I’ll meet you at Albert Street station’.”

Newton said the decision by the QIC to prioritise Albert Street made commercial sense.

“It is probably the most attractive site [for investors],” he said.

“It’s in the middle of the CBD, you have a railway station directly opposite, and it’s a prime location.”

QIC’s Cross River Rail precincts director Chris Brown said Brisbane “deserved” a city-shaping design on the location.

“The location of the site within the Cross River Rail Priority Development Area and opposite the Albert Street Station creates the opportunity to provide a truly integrated precinct,” Brown said.

Brisbane’s emerging new Albert Street precinct.

“101 Albert Street will also be a connector to future developments, including Queen’s Wharf Brisbane, and complements the Albert Street green spine envisioned by Brisbane City Council.”

Viewed from the Albert Street Cross River Rail Station it would appear as a subtropical vertical garden, he said.

“We’ve also integrated the tropical foliage theme throughout the remainder of the development, including an expansive rooftop area that allows occupants to enjoy outdoor spaces, including a surrounding rooftop garden.”

Albert Street Cross River Rail Station is the first Brisbane CBD train station built in more than 120 years.

How it was: View of Albert Street in 1876 looking westwards towards Spring Hill.Credit: John Oxley Library

QIC’s proposed vertical village would be mainly new-generation, flexible commercial office space, while including mixed retail with eateries, bars and restaurants.

Thirty-one of the 40 storeys were proposed for office use, designed to suit a range of tenants in “new and emerging ways of working”, Brown said.

The building would host 250 bicycle parking spaces and “end of trip” cycling facilities.

The development application has been lodged with the Queensland government’s Economic Development Queensland, part of the Department of State Development.

Subject to approvals, the Albert Street precinct was expected to be completed by late 2027.