Breakfast Creek Wharf site cleared in preparation for the construction of Australia’s first the Mercedes Benz Autohaus

THIS well-known Brisbane site with a chequered history has been lost for good in the name of progress as construction is set to begin in earnest on an exciting Australia-first development.

GATEWAY SITE: A render of the first Mercedes Benz Autohaus to be built in Australia at the former Breakfast Creek Wharf site at Newstead.

A NEW beginning for a well known piece of real estate with a chequered history is well on its way with construction set to kick off on Australia’s first Mercedes Benz Autohaus.

Demolition of the Breakfast Creek Wharf in Newstead has wrapped up and workers will soon be on site building the $100 million Autohaus.

It is scheduled for completion in July, 2018.

Mercedes Benz says its Autohaus, opposite the famous Breakfast Creek Hotel and across the road from historic Newstead House, will be the largest of its kind in Australia and include a full service dealership, a Mercedes museum and service centre.

The former Breakfast Creek Wharf site has been cleared to make way for new Mercedes dealership.

Designed by Cottee-Parker, the five-storey 35,000sq m state-of-the-art building at 194 Breakfast Creek Rd will also have a range of hospitality and retail options, with shops, restaurants and a rooftop function centre overlooking the river.

On a prime, but flood prone, piece of real estate, the site is a major Brisbane “gateway” property which has not yet lived up to its potential.

Built almost 28 years ago from the bones of the former 4KQ building Breakfast Creek Wharf was supposed to have filled the gap left by the end of Expo 88.

It once boasted the world’s most intricate water clock, had gondolas cruising the waters next to it and with five restaurants and more than 30 speciality stores it was the place in Brisbane to eat, shop and be seen.

However, it passed through a number of hands and its glory days were well and truly behind it when it was sold by receivers in 2012 to New Zealand-born developer Balfour Irvine for a reported $6.3 million.

Four years later he sold the 7843sq m riverfront site to the world’s largest distributor of Mercedes Benz, Lei Shing Hong, for about $26 million.

SITE CLEARED: The former Breakfast Creek Wharf site has been cleared to make way for new Mercedes Benz Autohaus.

FORMER GLORY: The Breakfast Creek Wharf back in better days Picture: Peter Wallis

Mercedes Benz Brisbane principal Shane Parkins said the building would have a “GOMA-esque” design and have a strong focus on green space.

”The Autohaus represents a new way of doing business into the future and will generate in excess of 300 on-site jobs during construction and around 100 additional jobs post-construction through its museum, staff training centre, restaurants and retail spaces,” he said.