Heavy weight Eagle Street Pier restaurant owners have something to say about $2.1B revamp plan

Operators of some of Brisbane’s finest restaurants and bars are considering their options in the face of a proposed $2.1b revamp of Eagle Street Pier. But for some, it’s just a case of deja vu.

THEY’VE heard it all before. There was a powerful sense of déjà vu yesterday among the operators of some of Brisbane’s finest eateries and drinking establishments along Eagle Street Pier.

They face an uncertain future, including eviction, if the $2.1 billion redevelopment scheme proposed by Dexus is fully approved and construction gets under way on the decade-long project in 2022.

But way back in 2004 many of these same hospitality players had identical concerns after Stockland bought the prime riverfront property from AMP.

Andy Georges at Mr. And Mrs. G Riverbar

Stockland flagged plans for significant redevelopment, sparking alarm in the likes of then-restaurateurs Matthew Hill-Smith at Pier Nine and Michael Shafferman, who was running Opus.

“Redevelopment has been going back for years. Stockland were going to relocate us,’’ Andy Georges, the former owner of Il Centro who now runs Mr & Mrs G Riverbar, told City Beat yesterday.

But the Stockland plan came to nothing, with the company and the Future Fund offloading the site to Dexus and one of its property funds for $635 million in 2015.

Georges thinks the Dexus scheme might get up but he hasn’t been approached by the company about whether he would want to keep trading in a revamped precinct.

“If I had a first option to come back I would but, at 74, I’ve had enough. I’ve had a good run,’’ he said.

UNFAZED

Jade Buddha co-owner Phil Hogan is equally unfazed by the spectre of a wrecking ball showing up one day outside his popular venue.

“We’ve seen this so many times before,’’ Hogan said.

“We don’t think we’ll have to go anywhere in a hurry. We’re looking at other opportunities at the moment but we think we’re going to be here for years.

“Now they’ve got pretty pictures and concepts but no detailed plans or approvals. It’s still miles away.

Jade Buddha co-owner Phil Hogan

“That would explain why they have refitted Rico and 51st Street is about to re-open as a sushi bar. The fit out has been going on for weeks. They’ve also been repainting the exterior.’’

Intriguingly, Hogan tells us that there’s a potential heritage wildcard issue at play that could impact any fresh construction.

Jade Buddha is built on what was once the biggest Aboriginal settlement in Brisbane and a convict-built stone culvert lies beneath both the venue and Creek Street.

One Brisbane City Councillor acknowledged that the culvert “would be considered a potential archaeological artefact’’.

Despite his confident outlook, Hogan remains concerned that public misconceptions about imminent demolition will lead to cancelled bookings, a problem Jade Buddha has had in the past.

ASSET SALE

Other stakeholders have raised a few eyebrows after it emerged that Dexus would need to acquire state-owned land as part of its sweeping makeover, which includes two 45-storey office towers.

A Dexus spin doctor dismissed speculation that this means a greater footprint extending out over the river.

“Dexus and State have agreed to convert part of the long term leasehold land to freehold. The land in question is fully occupied by the existing Eagle Street Pier building,’’ she said.

Eagle Street Pier artists impressions

But City Beat spies say the State Government is effectively selling Dexus what is now part of the riverbed lease because the company’s original proposal to close off part of Eagle Street was knocked back.

“It’s a disguised asset sale and they’re not making that clear to the public,’’ a source alleged.

A spokesperson for State Development Minister Cameron Dick downplayed the idea that converting a portion of Dexus’s existing sublease of about 1800 sqm of state-owned land amounted to an asset sale.

“All governments buy and sell land in the normal course of business transactions. The land is already part of the Eagle Street Pier and is not an income-producing asset in the hands of the State. It is a conversion of its existing tenure,’’ she said.

LAST CALL

We look back on the winners and losers of 2019 in our final column for the year this Saturday. Don’t miss it!