Portside Hamilton suffers brutal blow after Covid as cruise liners dock at new Brisbane International Cruise Termina
More than two thirds of shops at one of the Brisbane’s top retail hubs are empty after it was bypassed by the resurgent cruise industry.
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One of the city’s top-end retail hubs has been left high and dry after being bypassed by cruise liners that will now dock at the new $177m terminal near the mouth of the Brisbane River.
More than 60 per cent of shops at Portside Hamilton are empty following a perfect storm of Covid-19 shutdowns and the move by cruise liners to use the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.
P & O’s Pacific Explorer will be the first vessel to dock at the terminal on June 2 heralding the start of a wave of visits that will pump millions of dollars into the local economy.
However Portside, which was established 12 years ago take advantage of the cruise industry, will miss out.
Traders at Portside, which is operated by Brookfield Residential Properties, say cruise liners used to provide a steady stream of customers, particularly for coffee shops and restaurants in the precinct.
Retail expert Gary Mortimer said the opening of the terminal in Pinkenba was a further blow to Portside which is suffering retail vacancies of between 60 per cent and 70 per cent.
He said that like many retail strips the impact of Covid was severe but it has been compounded for Portside by the ban of cruise liners over the past two years.
“Before Covid there was significant foot traffic from cruise ship passengers who would use the bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as a range of cruise related clothing stores before getting onto the ship,” said Dr Mortimer, a professor of marketing and consumer behaviour at the QUT Business School.
“Portside was supported by a very niche market which was cruise ship passengers and that market has dried up which you can see the impact of with all the empty storefronts.
“With the opening of the multimillion dollar International Cruise Terminal up the road that foot traffic will now go there.”
Dr Mortimer said it appeared that despite the high density of people living in apartments around Portside they were not supporting the retail hub despite the drawcard of the cinemas, IGA and bottle shop and some excellent restaurants and cafes.
However, he said in the future with an older demographic in the area, Portside may be repositioned as a health and wellness hub.
“There could be some real opportunity around health, beauty and wellness if that’s how it might reinvent itself,” Dr Mortimer said.
“They will need to put a gym in there, beauty spa treatments, a pharmacy, optometry and dentistry in there. Currently there does not seem to be a significant medical/wellness hub in that area.”
Brookfield Residential Properties managing director Lee Butterworth said Portside Wharf was seeing positive signs of recovery from the height of Covid-19.
“We are witnessing a marked increase in foot traffic and clear signs of returning retailer confidence, notably evidenced by new leases and tenant expansions within the precinct,” said Mr Butterworth.
This includes Portside IGA, which had begun works to increase its footprint by one third, and the opening of Waters Edge Weddings and Events in March.
“Our leasing inquiries are up, and we are in advanced negotiations with a number of new and exciting tenants which we hope to be able to announce to our shopper community shortly,” he said.
He added the opening of the new international cruise terminal “will provide greater opportunities to deliver our local audience more activations on the waterfront, with a variety of events and social occasions, which our team is currently developing.”
High end menswear store Urbbana director Sam Abi said it would be good if some of the smaller cruise ships came back to Portside.
“Brisbane needs two cruise terminals. Sydney has three,” he said.
Mr Abi said despite the challenges he was upbeat about the future at Portside with plans to change the retail tenant mix. But he conceded the centre had been hit hard in recent years, including the three-year-long upgrade of Kingsford Smith Drive followed by Covid-19.
The manager of a Portside cafe, who did not wish to be named, said the end of cruise ship visits had had a huge impact on the business.
“We are slowing rebuilding after Covid-19 with the support of locals,” she said. Several cafes in the precinct closed down permanently during the pandemic, including the popular Pineapple Express cafe.
A Pineapple Express cafe spokesman said at the time the outlet was a particularly popular spot for pre-boarding breakfast and coffee. The nearby Cruises Cafe Portside also shut its doors last year.
Sono Japanese Restaurant manager William Liu said his business had not been impacted by the end of cruises.
“We are a destination venue so people travel from all over the city,” Mr Liu said.
Some businesses in the precinct say they are benefiting from the growing number of residential towers in the area. Portside Wharf IGA is expanding its floor area by one-third ahead of the precinct getting its 11th luxury high-rise.
The expanded store will offer a wider range of top-quality pet foods to cater for the large number of Portside unit owners with designer pets. Its gourmet takeaway range will also be expanded to offer an alternative to the eateries in the precinct.
–additional reporting by Brendan O’Malley.
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