Suburb profile, Toowong: Character and charm shine through despite development

IT’S an area that has become defined by battles between protective residents and progressive developers but there’s a lot more to this historic central Brisbane suburb than meets the eye.

IT’S an area that has become defined by battles between protective residents and progressive developers but there’s a lot more to this historic suburb than meets the headlines.

Toowong, just a few kilometres southwest of the CBD, has been a hive of development since 2014 when the Brisbane City Council rezoned land near the railway station to allow for high-density living.

Goldicott House saved from subdivision

Apartment towers, including an accommodation block for more than 500 students, have shot up at an alarming rate and the rapid change has caused angst for locals.

So far, concerned residents have landed a couple of blows.

Just this month, the development of three 25-storey towers, coined the champagne flutes, on the site of the former ABC studios where heritage-listed Middenbury House sits, was scuttled in court.

Construction along Coronation Drive opposite the former ABC studio site.

That decision came after a group of residents prevented 19th century Goldicott House, one of more than 30 places on the BCC heritage list, becoming an aged-care facility.

Overall, the developments have given the impression that by the time the last cement truck departs it will be a heavily congested suburb compromised by high-rise buildings.

However, construction has largely been centred within a few hundred metres of the station, located beneath Toowong Village retail precinct.

Besides resident anger and disbelief, the notable fall-out has been for investors and buyers following the decline of apartment prices.

“The peak construction was in 2015 when we did a lot of off-the-plan sales and then it continued and we came off the boil a bit because there was so much on the market,” said local Ray White real estate agent Kris Matthews.

“The median price dropped about more than 10 per cent, from $508,000 in 2015 down to $445,000.

“We’ve hit bottom and we are on the rebound now and are in an upward trajectory.”

Toowong features a range of highrises including the Toowong Tower (centre foreground), but there are also a number of beautiful character homes and tree-lined streets tucked away in this diverse suburb. Picture: Chris Higgins

In many ways, the transformation around the railway station is just history repeating itself, says Toowong and District Historical Society secretary Leigh Chamberlain.

Ms Chamberlain said the first parcel of land purchased in Toowong was in December 1853, but when the railway station opened in 1875 a major sub-division followed.

“This allowed your ordinary working man to be able to live in the ‘country’…and so you saw a rush of sub-division and the big estates being carved up,” Ms Chamberlain said.

“By the 1890s more sub-division meant the blocks got smaller and smaller and you then had a change in your socio-economic mix.”

To focus on the development around the Village would be selling the large elephant-shaped suburb that stretches as far north as Bardon, extremely short.

Toowong student accommodation. Picture: Darren Cartwright

Mr Matthews said there was demand for units and apartments to accommodate down-sizers and students from The University of Queensland in neighbouring St Lucia, but there are still a large blocks of land.

He said one of more tranquil parts of Toowong was to the west, between Miskin Street and Anzac Park, where beautiful character homes lined the streets.

“The suburb has a unique shape and borders Taringa, Auchenflower, Bardon and the ones at this end are more you’re traditional Queenslanders and the other pocket where we have big homes off Sherwood Road towards Elizabeth Street,” he said.

“It’s a part of Toowong that people don’t readily identify because it is such a large suburb and it’s a hidden pocket.

“You don’t get as much traffic along there and it’s the old grandeur of Toowong which stands out and not a lot has changed over the years.

“It’s where you will find majestic old Queenslanders usually on large sized blocks and that is my favourite part of Toowong.”

A heritage-listed house in Archer St

Tucked away in that section is a small cluster of shops on Dean Street that are well away from the hustle and bustle of the central development.

Bean on Dean café owner Kath Morrison, who took over four years ago, said the expansion around Toowong Village had not impacted on her business.

Toowong Bean on Dean owner Kath Morrison.

She said the fact it is located just off one of the thoroughfares in Toowong, adds to their appeal.

“When people they think of Toowong they probably think of Toowong Village and the hub of Toowong whereas this is a quiet street,” she said.

“Our customers are locals and local businesses, and on weekends we have transient traffic.

“The thing about this area is a lot of people who live here are intergenerational, so you have families who have lived here and their children live here as well, and especially in this pocket.”

Ms Morrison may not have noticed any change to her business because of development but across the road fast-food owner Deepak Kumar said there has been some benefit.

Mr Kumar has lived in Toowong for eight years and has owned the Kingfisher Seafood Cafe since December 2012.

He said feedback from Uber Eats’ drivers had shown some customers live in the Village precinct.

Toowong Kingfisher Seafood cafe owner Deepak Kumar.

“A lot of our customers are locals and been coming here for years…but the Uber drivers tell us they have to deliver to high rise buildings in Toowong,” he said.

“I bought here because it’s a great suburb. You’re close to parks, close to Mount Coot-tha and the CBD is not too far. You have access to everything.”

Mr Matthews said the apartment prices may have taken a hit over the years but median house price was solid and tracking at $830,000.

He said house prices were not heavily affected by the 2011 floods which inundated only two pockets of the suburb.

The most notable area of inundation was around the historic Regatta Hotel on Coronation Drive, which was built in 1886, and overlooks the Brisbane River.

The Regatta Hotel and the nearby Royal Exchange Hotel, which also dates back to the 1880s, are heritage-listed but the latter did not go under during the floods.

“It wasn’t as bad as some of the suburbs in Brisbane that were affected by flooding in 2011,” Mr Matthews said.

“There were only two little pockets in Toowong, one was around the Regatta Hotel and the other pocket was just on the suburb’s border near the Taringa Fire station, but overall it wasn’t a huge area that was affected.”