Plans for Brisbane’s tallest tower outside of CBD

Developers have applied to build a 50-storey residential tower at South Brisbane that, if built, would be the city’s tallest building outside the CBD.

Aria Property Group submitted the plans to Brisbane City Council late last week, for what was described in supporting documents as a “neighbourhood-transforming master-planned development”.

The precinct on a 7295-square-metre land parcel between Melbourne, Manning and Edmonstone streets – next to Stefan Ackerie’s old Skyneedle – would deliver 678 inner-city units, a 216-room hotel, along with retail and dining and 3650 square metres of publicly accessible open space.

Render of the proposed 50-storey development.Credit: Aria Property Group

It would include three towers, consisting of 50, 40 and 24 storeys.

Aria development director Brett Liddell said a “world-class project team” had delivered a “world-class outcome”.

“For many years we’ve coveted the opportunity to develop this landmark site,” he said.

In an assessment report prepared on Aria’s behalf by town planning firm Saunders Havill, the site was described as a significant development opportunity for South Brisbane.

The planned public space.Credit: Aria Property Group

“The applicant’s decision to vary building heights and elect not to take up the maximum height on all towers under the Kurilpa [temporary local planning instrument] ... creates substantial void spaces around each of the proposed towers, resulting in larger separation between towers and greater access to light, air and views,” Saunders Havill says in the documents.

It was a much more ambitious plan for the site than Aria’s 2022 plans, which included three 12-storey office towers on the site.

“Central to these improvements is the applicant’s decision to forego a fourth tower on the site and instead provide a community park,” Saunders Havill says in its assessment report.

The planned development, with the Brisbane Skyneedle in view.Credit: Aria Developments

“This 1600-square-metre space not only provides a significant community recreation and wellbeing benefit but dramatically reduces the bulk and scale of the development as a whole.”

The documents show there would also be a “world-class” retail and dining precinct, connected by arcades and laneways.

“By virtue of its size, position and prominence on Melbourne Street, the site is of critical importance to South Brisbane and has the potential to be the catalyst that propels the next generation of revitalisation in the area,” Saunders Havill says.

The development would include 1078 car parks and 75 motorbike spaces, of which 821 and 50 respectively would be allocated to residents.

In a novel approach to car parking, 243 of the spaces would be accessed via a ticketed boom gate and be shared between residential visitors, hotel guest and retail customers.

Casual users would be able to park two hours without penalty. Hotel guests and visitors would have their tickets validated either at check-in or by the residents they were visiting.

Saunders Havill described the scheme as “the future of the management of car parking for mixed-use developments within the city”.

“Specifically, the cross-utilisation of car parking that directly meets the demand...of the individual land uses will ensure minimum standards are exceeded for hotel land uses, whilst not resulting in commercial car parking that is otherwise unused outside the operation of the commercial activity.”