The 443 Queen Street unit project in the Brisbane CBD has been tangled up in controversy from the moment it was launched in 2014 by developer Cbus Property

Sold as a luxurious apartment tower for the prime riverfront site in Brisbane’s CBD, 443 Queen St hit controversy from the start and now sits years behind with millions lost.

Marketers of a luxurious and innovative $375m unit tower nearing completion in the Brisbane CBD once touted it as “paradise in the air’’.

But the 443 Queen Street project has been tangled up in controversy from the moment it was launched in 2014 by developer Cbus Property.

The drama culminated this week in the collapse of construction giant Probuild, which had presided over the problem-plagued riverfront site next to heritage-listed Customs House.

Work on the 47-storey high-rise should have been completed in late 2020 and, after multiple missed deadlines, it was finally on track to wrap up later this year.

The Queen St development has been tangled in controversy.

But Cbus Property, which has sold the bulk of the 264 units to investors fuming over multiple delays, will now have to find another builder to step in to complete the project. That will inevitably lead to further delays.

Numerous technical problems, some of which were associated with the building’s design on a tricky waterfront site, lead to many of the scheduling setbacks.

That, in turn, created enormous losses for Probuild, which cited the project as one of its two most significant financial drains, costing it at least $45m.

The troubles have been plain to see. As the original target date for completion neared in 2020, Probuild had only completed 32 of the 47 levels.

“Four years to build 47 storeys. It’s unheard of in construction,’’ a source close to the project said at the time.

An artist’s rendering used to market the 443 Queen Street project.

“All the subbies are panicking big time because nobody is going to make any money at all on this job.’’

A revolving door of Probuild site managers and other key ­project staff only intensified the problems.

COVID-19 restrictions also created headaches, as the three lifts on site were limited to carrying only four workers at a time instead of 10.

That created bottlenecks for nearly 200 tradies, some of whom had to wait an hour just to get started on their work.

To compensate, Probuild asked them to work longer hours but that plan ran into opposition from the CFMEU.

Cost-cutting initiatives by Probuild played havoc with the timetable, as well, with only a single crane on site instead of two as needed.

Few, if any, of these difficulties were anticipated when Cbus, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the superannuation fund of the same name, forked out $49m for the property in 2014.

It was the first apartment project in Queensland for Cbus, which also developed the controversial $650m “Tower of Power’’ office building at 1 William Street in the CBD.

Workers walk off the 443 Queens Street construction site in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Chief executive Adrian Pozzo claimed the high-rise would “set a new benchmark for apartment living” through its use of gardens on every level, as well as plenty of natural light and ventilation.

“A development of this nature has never been done in Brisbane before and 443 Queen Street will become iconic and synonymous with Brisbane’s relationship to the river,’’ he said.

But drama flared up quickly when the Brisbane City Council approved the scheme in 2015 just days before Christmas and without public consultation.

That move outraged critics, including the Queensland Heritage Council, because of the planned building’s proximity to much-loved Customs House

The anger was so intense that the University of Queensland, which owns Customs House, launched legal action to stop the project.

But the court sided with Cbus in mid-2016 and UQ, which had initially sought to appeal the decision, abandoned the fight after reaching a deal with the company.

Under the terms of the settlement, Cbus agreed to alter the building profile to preserve views, build a smaller car park and prune a nearby fig tree to a minimum.

UQ was ordered to pay Cbus’s legal costs of more than $500,000. That turned out to be a small win in an otherwise unmitigated disaster.