Queen’s Wharf and The Star precinct opening day
Hundreds of people have lined up to celebrate the momentous opening of the $3.6bn Queen’s Wharf precinct which has been in the works for nearly a decade.
Brisbane City
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The sporadic opening of the much-anticipated Queens Wharf precinct kicked off on Thursday morning with William Street officially opening to vehicles and guests able to check in to the hotel by 10am.
Minister for State Development Grace Grace and Tourism and Minister Michael Healy alongside The Star Brisbane CEO Daniel Finch unveiled the luxurious site to the public.
“We’ve already seen the immense economic benefits, developing the site adds more to the jobs, to the benefits of Queensland’s economy, and this will continue to grow with more and more visitors,” Ms Grace said.
“It’s very impressive that already the 340 hotel rooms are booked out and will be welcoming guests very, very soon. The scale of this development is truly impressive.”
Mr Finch confirmed on Thursday that the company had received its long-term operating lease from the Queensland government on Wednesday night.
The lease operates under a conditional casino licence from Queensland regulators issued to the Destination Brisbane Consortium, the developer of the project, of which Star is a party.
“We are working closely and continuously with the regulator and in a transparent and productive way,” Mr Finch said.
“We are a long way along to the completion of our remediation plan and have a heightened focus on policies around safe gambling and harm minimisation.”
Hundreds were set to flock through the doors of the The Star Grand Hotel, as well as visitors from across the newly opened Neville Bonner Bridge to catch a glimpse of the site in all its glory.
Gold Coast residents Kevin and Jenny Isles were two of the lucky guests who snagged one of the 340 sold-out rooms.
“We’re staying two nights, we’re lucky to have got the room but my husband is very good a nabbing these things,” Ms Isles said.
“I think I’m most looking forward to seeing the Sky Deck, everything already looks amazing but I think that will be my favourite part.”
The terrace level of the precinct includes a cafe for commuters or guests to enjoy whilst taking in the city views and infrastructure.
The long-awaited casino opened to the public Thursday afternoon, while guests, as well as visitors can enjoy the SkyDeck at 5pm with its deck boasting panoramic views of the city expected to be bustling with people.
Situated on level five, an expansive general casino floor, three bars and two restaurants – with access via escalators from the end of the Neville Bonner Bridge - will be open for the first time on Thursday afternoon.
The main casino floor is also home to Luke Nguyen’s Fat Noodle restaurant, a Sports Bar, Cherry Bar, the 19m-long LiveWire entertainment bar, and the casual dining space called Food Quarter which opened their doors at 2pm.
From runners and dog walkers to commuters, flocks of people took to the bridge early on Thursday to catch the sunrise and were rewarded their first glimpse of the multibillion-dollar Queen’s Wharf precinct.
Named after Australia’s first federal Indigenous parliamentarian, the bridge was completed in February 2023 after two years of construction.
Spanning 320 metres in length the Neville Bonner Bridge even survived the 2022 floods mid construction with only minimal damage.
However, due to several setbacks to the Queen’s Wharf precinct, the expected opening of mid-2023 was inevitably pushed back to mid-2024.
For locals like Annette Keogh, the opening was extremely exciting for a city that “loves its bridges”.
“I walk to work, I live across the river (city) and I work at the hospital,” Ms Keogh said.
“I’ve been watching it get built so it’s been exciting to actually see it completed and used.
“Brisbane is obsessed with bridges, here’s just another one and I love it.”
Ms Keogh said she was initially concerned the bridge would connect to the casino part of the precinct, but is looking forward to the opening of the Terrace Level and foreshore.
“I can’t wait to see that because it’s stunning, absolutely gorgeous,” she said.
She added that she was also looking forward to the public spaces at the Queen’s Wharf precinct including the restaurants and entertainment spaces which are beginning to open on Thursday.
“This is going to be a wonderful chance to put our public face on for the Olympics because we don’t really have much to offer when compared to Paris,” Ms Keogh said.
“But when I drove in early this morning when it was still dark the building was lit up purple which was amazing – it’s looking great.”
By 8am, morning commuters began to flock to the bridge on their way to work, with South Brisbane residents now having an easier journey to the city.
Kelly Pickering works at 1 William Street for the state government and said it was exciting to see the bridge opened after watching it be built from her office.
The Norman Park resident was able to catch the train from her house to South Brisbane and instead of another train or bus, she was happy to walk across the new bridge.
“Working at 1 William Street it’s a bit of a quiet zone with not a lot of lunch options to eat, so Queen’s Wharf being directly across the road is going to be fantastic for lunch and after work drinks,” Ms Pickering said.
“I think we needed a sort of landmark precinct in the city, there’s obviously Eagle Street, but Brisbane needed this and it’s really going to thrive because of it.”
Two keen Gold Coast residents took the train to Brisbane to witness the opening of Queen’s Wharf.
Siblings Mickey and Glady Brennan love the Star Casino in the Gold Coast and said they wouldn’t miss their chance to see the new development here in Brisbane.
“Glady was one of the first people to walk through the doors of the Gold Coast Star Casino 30 years ago,” Mr Brennan said.
“I’m really looking forward to it, we’re just up here for the day to check it out,” Ms Brennan said.
The pair said they would be excited to stay at the Star Grande Hotel some time in the future.
The bridge links South Bank with the Queen’s Wharf development (and through it to George and William streets) with 10,000 people expected to cross the bridge each day.
Eventually commuters will be able to walk from South Bank straight to the many restaurants on offer at Queens Wharf, however these will not be opening on Thursday and will open their doors progressively in the coming weeks.
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