Traders in Purple pay $63.5m for 1.25ha West End riverfront site sold by liquidators

A prime Brisbane riverfront mega site that had been earmarked for a four-apartment tower urban village has sold, with its new owners commenting on plans for the site.

The 1.25ha riverfront site at 117 Victoria St, West End bought by Traders in Purple.

A prime Brisbane inner-city riverfront site, that went on the market after the developer that had owned it since 2018 went into liquidation last year, has been sold to a national property and construction group.

Traders in Purple paid $63.5m for the 1.25ha site at 117 Victoria St, West End, after it was put on the market in August last year on behalf of liquidators BDO.

The property was owned by Crown Group, which bought it in 2018 for $35m and had plans to develop 473 apartments across four towers on the site.

A bid by Crown Group co-founder Paul Sathio to buy the site through his personal vehicle Victoria Riverside failed earlier this year.

Traders in Purple stepped in and the deal was brokered by Savills’ Tim Grossman, on behalf of liquidators BDO Andrew Sallway and Duncan Clubb who have been putting Crown’s multi million dollar portfolio on the market.

An artist's impression of Crown Group urban village project at 117 Victoria St, West End.

In Queensland Traders in Purple has been focused on the Moreton Bay region and the latest acquisition adds to their burgeoning $4bn portfolio of projects under construction or in planning across NSW, Queensland and Tasmania.

The site will be revised by the company and the number of apartments significantly reduced, with focus on appealing to owner-occupier premium apartment purchasers.

Traders in Purple director George Geagea said the size and location of the West End site presented a rare opportunity to create a remarkable lifestyle-focused destination just 4km from the Brisbane CBD.

“This is a spectacular site, one of the largest on the Brisbane riverfront to come to market in recent years,” he said.

“We have long wanted to make our mark in Brisbane’s inner-city but we were prepared to wait until the right site came along. Expansion into the inner-city of Brisbane is a natural growth for Traders in Purple.

“We’ve had incredible success on the Moreton Bay Peninsula where we have delivered 12 luxury waterfront projects over the past 15 years.”

Co-Director Charles Daoud said the new design and reduction in apartment numbers is to better suit the West End community.

“Our new design will match the resilient owner occupier downsizer market and executive buyers and families seeking high quality details and amenity in larger, well-located apartments and homes,” he said.

“It’s a demographic that Traders in Purple knows well, through years of successful development on the Moreton Bay Peninsula with many purchasers having come from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

“The next few months will be spent engaging with architects, landscape designers and urban planners to determine the best design outcome for this unrepeatable location.

“We will engage with the local community to ensure they are well aware of our plans and how we seek to complement and add value to the West End community.”

The 1.25ha riverfront site at 117 Victoria St, West End bought by Traders in Purple.

Traders In Purple’s current Queensland projects in Moreton Bay include Marin, a $94m luxury development under construction on the Scarborough waterfront; Orilla, a $71m boutique ultra luxury development on the water’s edge at Woody Point, also under construction; and recently launched Tydal, with 175 apartments and an end value of $211m on the former Filmer’s Palace Hotel site at Woody Point.

The first building release at Tydal achieved 60 per cent sales in just six weeks.

Traders In Purple is also delivering more than 800 dwellings across a number of strategically located Sydney sites with a gross return of more than $500m. The company has also partnered with the Anglican Diocese of Sydney to deliver two significant residential and mixed use projects, valued at $365 million, in Five Dock and Lane Cove.

The group’s $300m Kings Quarter project in Tasmania, developed in partnership with Kingborough Council, has won industry recognition, winning last year’s Master Builders Award for Excellence in medium density construction.