The Edison Exchange in the Brisbane CBD is on the market and is expected to generate offshore and local interest

A Brisbane CBD site which has connected telephone conversations since the 1880s is on the market and set to get developers talking.

Demolition workers preparing the site for the development of te Edison Telephone Exchange building. Picture: The Courier-Mail Photo Archive.

A BRISBANE building on a CBD site, which has been the conduit for the city’s telephone conversations since the 1880s, is on the market and earmarked for a future high-rise development.

The 10-storey Edison Exchange, which was developed in 1963 by the Federal Government through its Postmaster General Department, is being sold by Knight Frank.

The site at 280 Elizabeth St has operated as a telephone exchange since 1883, and is now owned by the ASX-listed Telstra which has a seven-year lease on the building.

Knight Frank partner, Institutional Sales, Justin Bond, said the property provided investors and developers with a rare opportunity to secure a premium under-utilised site with “significant”

development potential.

“The PC1 Principle Centre (City Centre) zoning allows for no maximum building height and offers a multitude of development potential including office, hotel, retail and residential.” he said.

“We expect interest from both domestic and overseas buyers for this unique asset.”

The building has 12,200sq m of gross floor area and is on a 1675sq m site

The site initially operated as part of Brisbane’s first telephone exchange, which opened in 1880, with 175 telephone services becoming available in 1883.

Manually operated until 1929, when the operation switched to an automated service with the current building fronting Elizabeth St opening 56 years ago as a state-of-the-art telephone exchange.