Education emerges as powerhouse driving Brisbane’s CBD

THE booming sector driving Brisbane’s inner city isn’t retail, commercial or residential, a new study of the CBD has found.

A BOOMING education sector is the “unsung hero” of Brisbane’s CBD, fuelling economic and residential growth in the heart of the city, according to new research.

The Committee for Brisbane’s study of the CBD, released today, found that education was out performing traditional city powerhouses such as retail, commercial offices and residential.

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The CBD’s overall performance was rated as “generally performing strongly” with the office market retaining its perch as the dominant sector in the city, employing more than 122,000 workers.

But the education sector, which accounted for 39 per cent of total employment growth in the CBD between 2011 and 2016, was rated the “unsung hero”, propping up commercial office take up rates and creating a new market for residential development.

The City Centre Vitality Dashboard, prepared by consultants Urban Economics, found the CBD was filled daily with more than 9,000 students, attending 129 registered educational and training institutions that employed 6,265 workers.

The growth in city-based education has also led to surge in student accommodation within the CBD.

According to the report, the total number of student beds in the CBD jumped to 2,309 this year, up from just 814 in 2017. A further 919 student rooms will open in 2019 when the Student One building on Elizabeth St opens.

Students Charlie Dally-Watkins, Raina Ahmed and Ralph Teodoro at QUT Gardens Point campus. Picture: John Gass/AAP

QUT nursing student and vice-president of the Council of International Students Australia Ralph Teodoro said international students were attracted to the “big name” cities because of the ease of access, support services available and diversity.

“A lot of international students come from places with high rise buildings and lots of people around day and night so being in the CBD makes them feel at home,” he said.

“We’re pretty used to the lights and big buildings.”

The report also found total commercial office space expanded slightly from 2017 to 2018 with vacancy rates dropping below 15 per cent and rents for premium locations rising from $730m2 to $750m2.

The CBD residential market was rated as having “surprising stability” but median prices had been dragged down slightly by student accommodation and investor stock sales.

“The CBD residential market appears to be outperforming the remainder of the inner-city residential market, with low vacancy rates and an active rental market, but is exhibiting some signs of softening in part related to the availability and type of new stock,” the report says.

The tourist sector was rated as consolidating after a 15 per cent increase in total hotel rooms in the past two years. Demand for hotel rooms had strengthened despite the total number of rooms jumping to 7,391 while average room rates had dipped slightly, from $150 per night to $140.

Retailers faced a “tale of two markets” with premium shopping centre and mall locations reporting low vacancy rates but secondary sites such as ground floor office buildings, arcades and older stock undermining the sector.

The report found the CBD was still receiving significant investment with more than $5 billion of construction currently under way, including more than 1400 new hotel beds.