Broadway Hotel at Woolloongabba destroyed by fire

DEPUTY Premier Jackie Trad is calling on Brisbane City Council to ensure the Broadway Hotel is rebuilt to its original form if a development application on the site is approved. VIDEO

DEPUTY Premier Jackie Trad is calling on Brisbane City Council to ensure the Broadway Hotel is rebuilt to its original form if a development application on the site is approved.

The abandoned heritage pub, which is in Woolloongabba in Ms Trad’s South Brisbane electorate, was destroyed overnight by a devastating blaze that took crews half an hour to extinguish.

Speaking about the fire this morning, Ms Trad said Queenslanders were sick of seeing heritage sites falling into disrepair.

“I’m calling on Brisbane City Council to view any development application on this site going forward with some stringent conditions,” she said.

“Those conditions should be that the pub is rebuilt in its original form.”

Ms Trad said such a move would be reasonable and be in the public interest.

BCC City Planning Chairman Matthew Bourke said the council was also eager for the pub to be restored to its “former glory”.

But he argued the State Government was responsible for enforcing the maintenance of the building because of its state-listed heritage status.

“The State Government is responsible for conducting ongoing enforcement to have the building’s heritage features maintained or repaired, such as in the instance of a fire, and would also condition any development applications to preserve the building in accordance with its heritage listing,” he said.

EARLIER: Police are investigating a blaze that ripped through the derelict Broadway Hotel in Brisbane’s south overnight.

The abandoned hotel on Logan Rd at Woolloongabba was well alight when emergency services arrived on scene just before 1am.

The alarm was raised by a woman who was walking her dog in nearby Balaclava St about 12.40am.

The Broadway Hotel at Woolloongabba, in Brisbane's inner-south, fully engulfed in flames overnight.

Up to 20 firefighters battled the blaze and had it under control just over half an hour.

“When I first arrived it was completely engulfed, the flames were rising above the roof top and the roof collapsed fairly quickly,” South Brisbane District duty officer Senior Sergeant Todd Sucic said.

Snr Sgt Sucic said the woman heard “a loud bang” before spotting the flames.

No-one was injured.

Firefighters on the scene of the Broadway Hotel at Woolloongabba overnight. Picture: Jacob Miley

The blaze originated on the top floors of the building, and with nothing flammable left inside, investigators are suspicious the blaze was started by vandals.

Engineers are expected to visit the site today and clear it for safety before investigators move in and begin their work.

Police at the Broadway Hotel this morning following an overnight fire. Picture: Caitlin Smith

It is not the first time the building has been damaged by fire. On July 11, 2010 extensive damage led to the permanent closure for the former hotel, which was built around 1889.

Another early-morning blaze, deemed to be suspicious was also spotted by a passer-by in October 2017.

The fire broke out in a small room on the second floor of the hotel, and was deemed to be the work of squatters, who had taken up residence in the abandoned building.

The building is owned by beleaguered businessman Seb Monsour’s company Majella Property Developments.

Mr Monsour is the brother-in-law of former Premier Campbell Newman and is facing $10 million in fraud charges related to payments from overseas investors in three Australian investment funds.

His company Majella Group Holdings was placed in voluntary administration last month.

Mr Newman has never had a business involvement with his brother-in-law and there is no suggestion he was involved in the alleged fraud.

An exterior view of the Broadway Hotel in Woolloongabba last year. File picture

Mr Monsour has been planning to build a $260 million 27-storey tower on the site of the heritage-listed pub but scrapped the plans in July amid a community backlash.

Majella Property Developments withdrew a development application for the highrise on July 10.

At the time, Mr Monsour said he would enter a new design process with Council before submitting a new development application.

In 2015 during a pre-application process, Council said it did not support the plans for the 27-storey tower, which was above the upper limit in the neighbourhood plan.

The high-rise plan angered residents, heritage architects and community groups, who said the project would cause traffic chaos, and ruin the historic hotel’s unique features including its distinctive mansard roof.