Queen’s Wharf scrambles for new high-end retail offering after deal collapses
Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf precinct is scrambling to find a new high-end retail offering after its world-renowned luxury anchor tenant pulled out of the deal which is believed to be worth millions.
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Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf precinct is scrambling to find a new high-end retail offering after its world-renowned luxury anchor tenant pulled out of the deal, believed to be worth millions.
In 2021, Destination Brisbane Consortium – behind the $3.6b Queen's Wharf development -sprouted global leader in luxury retail offerings DFS, part of the $309b Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) Group, would provide a sprawling 6000sq m shopping oasis on the riverfront site.
It was to include a three-level T Galleria Emporium in the historic Printery Building on George Street; plus a wealth of its luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, housed across 16 freestanding stores, making it DFS’s largest shopping footprint in Oceania.
But the premium retail group has abandoned the deal, believed to be worth millions of dollars, leaving Destination Brisbane Consortium desperate to find a replacement.
A spokesman from DBC confirmed the deal was off and that they were looking for other premium offerings to take over.
“We are having discussions with numerous brands,” the spokesman said, but would not reveal who the consortium was in talks with, or if they were local or overseas brands.
He said no deals had been made, and there would be no permanent retail offerings opening on the CBD site until next year.
DFS Australia has now lodged a claim against Queen’s Wharf developer Destination Brisbane Consortium, of which Star is the major partner, in the Brisbane Supreme Court for misleading and deceptive conduct.
Queensland University of Technology retail expert Gary Mortimer said it was a “missed opportunity” not having the luxury retail giant as part of the precinct.
“It is disappointing to see that the retail offer wasn’t there (for the opening of Queen's Wharf) and it will be incredibly disappointing to see a retail offer not appear because without it you lose that compelling reason to visit,” he said.
He said despite the fact that there were luxury retailers like Dior, Fendi, YSL and Louis Vuitton already in the CBD in Queen's Plaza and Edward St, Queen's Wharf needed these brands to service the tourists and compete on a national and global level.
“Certainly the Chinese tourists and the Asian tourists, they expect to see brands like that available,” he said.
“You are servicing two different markets.”
Mr Mortimer said to replace the luxury retail offering with more mass market retailers, like Zara or H&M or Myer, would be a mistake and that the CBD did not need any more retail, with the Myer Centre and Wintergarden already struggling to attract tenants and foot traffic.
Also notably absent from last month’s opening of Queen's Wharf has been the 50 restaurants, bars and cafes promised.
While Star-owned eateries Sokyo and Fat Noodle have launched, independently owned venues are struggling to finish their builds with a lack of tradespeople available.
The Ghanem Group, which is behind Brisbane favourites like Donna Chang, Byblos, Boom Boom Room and Iris, will launch Asian eatery Luc Lac at Queen’s Wharf in the coming weeks, but said the build had taken about double the time of a normal restaurant fit-out because restaurateurs were only able to use Queen's Wharf-approved tradespeople.
“As a tenant we normally have full control over how we build our businesses and our venues and we have full control over the tradesmen we use and the shopfitters and we were very restricted with who could come on site,” Luc Lac co-owner Nehme Ghanem said.
“There was a very restricted amount of each trade that was working on site and they were pulled in a lot of directions.”
He said he was disappointed the opening had not included all the restaurants and retail, and there was such a focus on Star casino, with the available green space difficult to find due to construction issues and poor signage.
Leonie Swann from Balmoral said she thought the precinct looked great, but she would not take any visitors to the site until it was fully operational.
“I think I’ll wait until next year when all the restaurants are functioning and they’ve ironed out all their problems,” she said.
Patron Lauren Stacey, 21, said the precinct needed to improve its signage, as she and her friends became lost trying to find the sky deck.
“I walked into the hotel and it was really scary and I didn’t know where to go,” she said.
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