Consolidated Properties boss Don O’Rorke confirms delay in Yeerongpilly Green project

A BRISBANE developer and his team have found the going a little tougher than they expected with an $850m project on Brisbane’s southside. But he says a six-month delay might actually work in their favour.

Consolidated properties boss Don O'Rorke at Yeerongpilly.

• Sleepy suburb to turn mini metropolis

A FEW hiccups are to be expected when you’re rolling out an $850 million project in stages over 10 years.

Sure enough, Brisbane developer Don O’Rorke and his gang at Consolidated Properties have found the going a little bit tougher than they expected with their Yeerongpilly Green mixed-used scheme.

City Beat caught up with O’Rorke, who was in Hong Kong yesterday, and he confirmed the redevelopment of the State Government’s former Animal Research Institute site has been delayed by about six months.

He told us it was a complicated project because of the flood-mitigation and decontamination work required on the property, which sits between the Queensland Tennis Centre and Yeerongpilly railway station.

Illustration of Don O'Rorke by Brett Lethbridge

To “floodproof’’ the 14ha site, Consolidated is actually lifting King Arthur Terrace to effectively create a berm.

The work, which kicked off in late 2015, has forced the closure of roads and bikeways – much to the chagrin of local residents. Water, sewer and power lines have also been relocated.

O’Rorke told us that decontaminating the soil proved necessary because of the chemicals once used to preserve animals at the research facility, which was established in 1909 and shut down in 2010.

Of the 50 or so buildings that once stood there, just a few remain thanks to their heritage value and will be incorporated into the project. They include the former stables, morgue and UQ veterinary school.

WELCOME DELAY

RATHER than taking a hit to the bottom line, O’Rorke said the delay would actually work in his favour as the market digests an oversupply of units.

Consolidated secured a DA for the first 170 apartments in December but they have not been released for sale yet because of the rejigged timetable. They’re set to come on the market either late this year or in early 2019.

Work on the roads, parks and 1.8ha of public space should be wrapped up by November. Construction of a retail village, with a shopping centre and dining precinct, will kick off in the first half of next year. Ultimately, the project will see 1200 units, a 103-room boutique hotel, country club and commercial office space.

Before then, O’Rorke jets back in to town next week to preside over Consolidated’s 20th annual end-of-financial-year party.

The now-legendary bash, in conjunction with his good mates at Hutchinson Builders, plays out at The Triffid on Thursday night with 800 or so of the usual industry suspects. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is also expected to stop by to say a few words.

Initial planning has already started for next year’s shindig to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Consolidated’s founding.

TUNING UP

YOU might call him the prodigal son.

Queensland Symphony Orchestra announced this week it had tapped Craig Whitehead to serve as its new CEO. Whitehead has spent the past 10 years overseeing the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth.

Before moving across the country, he ran Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre Company and presided over the successful move to its new home in the Roundhouse Theatre at Kelvin Grove. QSO chair Chris Freeman hailed Whitehead as “one of the country’s most highly qualified and experienced arts leaders’’ who had also managed to chalk up nine profitable seasons and boost revenue. He takes up the new role in January, replacing David Pratt, who bowed out in May for personal reasons after just two years on the job.