Four urban renewal precincts left in limbo by Games, Cross River Rail

Ongoing uncertainty over the completion date for the Cross River Rail project and the location of venues for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has delayed urban renewal plans at four Brisbane sites.

Combined, the four sites have approximately 1 million square metres in land space, above and around the new train stations being built at Roma Street, Albert Street, Woolloongabba and Boggo Road.

The state-owned Queensland Investment Corporation secured the development rights in 2021, when it vowed to generate billions of dollars for the government, and stimulate the city’s economy, through the construction of housing, hotel, hospitality outlets, commercial premises and education facilities.

Artists’ impressions of what the redevelopment might look like at Boggo Road, Albert Street, Woolloongabba and Roma Street in Brisbane.Credit: Queensland Investment Corporation

The sites were expected to be highly sought-after for their public transport connections and proximity to the CBD. As community and Games hubs, they would also provide a catalyst for urban renewal on a larger scale.

However, most of QIC’s masterplans, covering the government’s priority development areas (PDAs) that allow key projects to be fast tracked, are still in draft form.

The biggest unknowns are whether the government will keep the planned Brisbane Arena at Roma Street Parkland, anchoring that urban renewal project, and what it will do with the Gabba and the QIC site opposite it.

The independent Games venue review will report back to the Crisafulli government in March, ahead of the LNP handing down its first state budget in June. That will be the period for decisions to be made, given even Brisbane Games boss Andrew Liveris has said there cannot be any further delays.

The government recently cast doubt on the Cross River Rail project being completed by 2026, as originally scheduled, which would also delay handover of the sites to QIC.

In 2023, QIC was granted approval for a 40-storey commercial office tower at Albert Street, and had planned to begin construction this year and finish in 2027. However, the underground work on the new station continues.

Shortly before Christmas, QIC sought and obtained approval to squeeze in another storey without changing the overall height of the building. It will also modify the facade, and add landscaping to the awning structures above the ground floor retail spaces.

QIC also took the opportunity to add another 25 bicycle parks and two more lockers, with the tower still promising to rejuvenate the link between the Queen Street Mall and Botanic Gardens.

However, the construction cost is now likely higher than the $750 million initially estimated, and there are warnings that Queensland’s ambitious infrastructure program will cause delays and cost blow-outs.

Around Roma Street, other sites are also under a cloud: Victoria Barracks at Petrie Terrace may ultimately be offloaded by the Department of Defence, but a final decision will not be made until later this year, and; the former dental hospital on Turbot Street is without a plan for the future after Mirvac opted out of a massive redevelopment.

Dedicated pedestrian and cycle-friendly boulevards from Roma Street to the CBD and neighbouring areas may not be built if there are no Games venues, as would also be the case around the Gabba.

Griffith University was considering a highrise campus at Roma Street but has since purchased the lease on the former Treasury casino site.

After Labor ditched the Gabba rebuild, Brisbane City Council flagged the possibility of Woolloongabba not having a new Metro station, and the funds instead be spent extending the network.

Council’s newly opened Kangaroo Point Bridge was previously described as a key link for Games patrons walking between the Gabba and the CBD, but there are still other missing links.

Around the fringes of the Woolloongabba PDA, several privately held sites have fallen into disrepair while developers wait to learn the government’s intentions. The political debate over the appropriate mix of private, social and affordable housing in any residential component of the PDA has also gone quiet.

Boggo Road is considered the most advanced of the QIC masterplans – its vision for an Innovation Precinct is likely to start taking shape this year – and would contribute to the development boom already under way around Buranda, Stones Corner, and tipped to continue throughout Woolloongabba.

QIC has promoted town centre developments in its investment portfolio, and partnering with developers to deliver residential developments including build-to-rent projects.

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