‘Bring life back’: Apartments, shops set to feature in new Toombul plan

Brisbane City Council has told developer Mirvac it would support the former Toombul Shopping Centre site being turned into a transit-oriented residential and retail precinct.

The centre, damaged in the 2022 floods, has taken 12 months to clear and Mirvac now expects to spend “several months” talking to potential partners about redevelopment options.

While there has been speculation Toombul could become a 2032 Games venue, much of the site is flood-prone and Mirvac has previously flagged a mixed-use residential precinct to make use of the public transport connections.

The Toombul Shopping Centre before it was demolished by Mirvac.Credit: Tony Moore

“We’ve been working closely with authorities, including Brisbane City Council, over the past two years to agree the parameters for future development of the site, including items such as traffic, location and size of the bus interchange, open space, building envelopes – including retail – and the most important part of the puzzle, the flood solution,” Mirvac told Toombul residents in an email this week.

“This has been a complex process that has taken time to get right and is a big milestone in the potential redevelopment of the site.”

A council spokesman confirmed the focus on a mixed-use precinct.

“Council has been working with Mirvac to help them understand what is allowable under the neighbourhood plan,” the spokesman said.

“We’ve put a strong focus on the flood-prone land to make sure any flooding issues are addressed in their development application.

“Council would be supportive of a mix-used development featuring housing and retail, in line with the neighbourhood plan, as well as open space to address flooding concerns.”

Toombul has been the subject of previous, tentative development proposals, featuring unit towers on the higher, northern end of the site, and a new bus interchange to complement the nearby train station.

However, the prospect of parkland on the southern end of the site, and a modern retail offering, could prove attractive to new buyers in Brisbane’s constrained housing market.

Mirvac will now focus on finding the financial backers and builders to deliver the new Toombul town centre.

“Now that we have council support confirming what is permissible on the site, we are commencing discussions with a targeted group of potential partners, including capital and other delivery partners, to support the future redevelopment,” the company said.

“Given the scale and size of the site, along with the current challenging construction environment, we believe this will be the fastest pathway to bring life back to Toombul.”

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