McWhirters Marketplace tenants fear for their safety as homeless and junkies roam ‘ghost town’

One of Australia’s oldest and most iconic department stores today resembles a ghost town, with a shop owner saying the centre is overrun with homeless and junkies.

One of Brisbane’s most grand and iconic department stores today resembles a ghost town, with stores shuttered up, sections in disrepair and “junkies and the homeless” roaming its corridors.

McWhirters Marketplace was built in the early 1900s and for almost a century was considered one of Brisbane’s largest and most sophisticated department stores, including decades trading as Myer.

However, a walk-through on Monday found more than a dozen shops shuttered and several “For Lease” signs.

Inside the entrance to the grand old building on the corner of Brunswick and Wickham streets, there was a person sleeping rough on the ground near the iconic escalators that were cordoned off for repairs.

McWhirters Marketplace resembles a ghost town in 2024. Picture: Iwan Jones

The heritage-listed building has seen better days, with holes in the roof and graffiti on the walls, while there were more shops closed than open throughout the mall, with several including a butcher closing in recent weeks.

The select few stores open on Monday included a newsagency, barber shop, discount variety store, food and vegetable store, nail and beauty parlour, jewellery store, Red Cross, as well as some eateries within the food court.

The owner of one of the few open shops told The Courier-Mail that the shopping centre complex had gone downhill since the Covid pandemic.

“It’s a shame, it’s so close to the city, it should be busy,” the man said.

“There is so much potential, but you need more fresh shops.”

A section of McWhirters Marketplace has been closed off for repairs. Photo: Iwan Jones

While the building is in need of repair, the man questioned what improvements could be made.

“The McWhirters building is an old heritage-listed building,” he said.

“How are you going to change it? You can’t demolish it.

“It’s not the building itself, people don’t come because of the surroundings.”

He said the shopping centre had been impacted by the homelessness crisis and the presence of drugs in Fortitude Valley.

“There are a lot of homeless people here, a lot of junkies, it’s not a good image at all,” he said.

“It’s all f—ked up.

“It doesn’t feel safe to come to the Valley.”

The man said crime was also a problem.

“Stealing is very common. I’ve become a security guard,” he said.

“I protect myself every day when I come here.

“I don’t feel f—king safe, I’m scared because drugs are everywhere.”

Graffiti can be found on the walls of McWhirters Marketplace. Picture: Iwan Jones

A fellow long-term tenant of McWhirters also noted a decline in more recent years.

“I’ve been in the building for coming on six years and it has gotten significantly worse,” the tenant said.

“The place looks derelict. Why would you want to go in there?

“I think for anyone coming on board, it’s a significant investment in a building that has problems.”

The tenant took aim at the landlord for not stepping up to resolve what they could.

“I think the big issue is actually the landlords,” he said.

“They won’t engage security to move on the homeless or drunks or drug addicts, that’s a big problem as well.

“The building has significant issues, as in structural, as in leaking pipes, and the outside of the building, all the awnings have been hit and damaged by trucks and buses.

“We’ve approached Brisbane City Council seeking ‘no stop’ zones and things like that. The most they’ve done is put up a sign.”

McWhirters Marketplace was vastly empty, with few customers seen on Monday morning. Picture: Iwan Jones

The tenant also raised concerns about the safety of customers and staff.

“I don’t think people want to go in there, I don’t think people feel safe, I don’t feel safe,” he said.

“But as I said, it’s beyond that. It’s the lack of repairs.”

He called on the state government to step in to improve the condition of the building.

“I think there probably does need to be intervention by the state government,” he said.

“I think without some sort of serious intervention, shortly, we will go the same way as what (the now abandoned) Waltons did.”

McWhirters Marketplace resembles a ghost town in 2024. Picture: Iwan Jones

A McWhirters Marketplace spokesman acknowledged various circumstances were impacting the centre.

“There’s a lot of problems,” he said.

“The surrounding area is not really helpful for the business. There are more homeless people around.

“Also, the people (who) come here – they get in, they just take drugs, they do whatever.”

The spokesman added that it has been difficult to attract new tenants to the building, with high operating costs also having an impact on the shopping centre complex.

“We have to really spend too much money to maintain the shop,” the spokesman said.

“So the people here as a tenant, if they pay the outgoing, they probably will move out, because it costs too much.”

The iconic escalators at McWhirters Marketplace which was one of the earliest to open in Queensland. Picture: Iwan Jones

The spokesman said a number of shops had closed in recent weeks.

“The butcher shop and the sushi shop have left the centre,” the spokesman said.

“The small businesses can’t really survive.”

When asked if McWhirters could ever be returned to its former glory, the spokesman had some reservations.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Everything has changed, it’s really hard to revive and go back to the old time.

“I don’t think it will happen soon.
“Maybe with government help, then probably we can do something.”

The Department of Environment and Science and Brisbane City Council have been contacted for comment.