Boom ‘burb: 700-plus units planned for this inner-Brisbane area

With 700-plus highrise units and almost as many student accommodation projects in the past two years, residents are growing alarmed at this westside suburb’s ability to cope with the boom.

At least 700 units have been built, are under construction or in planning within a 1km mega development hot spot in Toowong.

The astonishing number does not include new townhouse, small lot housing, student highrise and rooming accommodation proposals.

When student highrises are included, the figure balloons to more than 1200 units, A Quest Newspapers analysis shows.

In the latest announcement, a revised development application has been lodged by Azure for a residential building at 56-58 Sylvan Rd and 9 Earle Ln.

Artist's impression of the proposed unit block.

GoogleEarth view of where the proposed development would be built.

Designed by Conrad Architects, the proposal 98 units would be spread over eight levels.

A two-storey commercial building on the site will be demolished.

Toowong Residents Group spokeswoman, Freya Robertson, said there was simply too much being proposed.

Residents recently had a big win with the controversial Unilodge student tower in Archer St.

Late last year the owner proposed transforming the 15-storey student unit block into short-term accommodation, which locals feared could lead to a vertical “ghetto’’.

The 555-bed tower, at 25-29 Archer St, was first approved by Brisbane City Council in May 2017 with work starting last year. It has just 58 car parks.

Aerial view of the UniLodge building.

But Ms Robertson said owner Archer St Holdings had now discontinued their appeal against a decision to stop it from being converted into short term accommodation.

The local student highrise accommodation market has collapsed since Covid closed international borders, with the nearby Atira highrise empty.

Owners Scape had been hosting homeless and at-risk people there at the height of last year’s lockdown, but that arrangement stopped late last year after sustained criticism about anti-social behaviour.

Ms Robertson said there was still too much development in a small area, despite the Unilodge win.

“The neighbourhood plan does not seem to support the strong growth in the community and it is left to random developer outcomes to progress public infrastructure,’’ Ms Robertson said.

“We are keen to see a significant improvement in the infrastructure for the community in order to support the high density accommodation being built in Toowong and surrounds.

“We would like to see a link between Council’s infrastructure fees and improvements in the vicinity.”

Recent projects announced in the Toowong area include Mosaic Property Group’s DA for a 14-level residential building at 24-28 Lissner St, a stone’s throw from Toowong Village Shopping Centre. It will have 101 units.

Only last March, Mosaic revealed it would start sales of units at its $50 million, 63-unit Kensington development at 36 Sylvan Rd, several hundred metres away.

Another 62-unit Mosaic project in Toowong, the $80 million Patterson tower, will be completed in 2022 after all its units were snapped up within six weeks of being released in October.

The $450 million Toowong Town Centre project, to be known as The Aviary, will have 150 apartments when completed as well as 30 retail shops, a large office tower, fresh food market, an elevated outdoor dining precinct, cinemas, and services such as a fitness/wellness centre, medical centre and childcare facilities.

In August last year developer Standring Pty Ltd lodged plans for a multistorey development along Sylvan Rd with 43 units spread over eight floors.

And in March this year Consolidated Properties Group bought the old ABC studios site, revealing it was planning a three-tower project.

Gold Coast-based developer Sunland walked away from a much larger unit project at the site — dubbed the “champagne flutes’’ — after a court challenge by millionaire neighbours Kate and Richard Bell.

There was another win for residents fighting against overdevelopment when Council announced the go ahead for its Toowong to West End green bridge, which will land at the ABC site.

That meant Consolidated Properties will now build only two towers, meaning as few as 220 units.

Artist impression of the triple tower “champagne flutes’’ proposed by Sunland. it walked away from the project after a court challenge.

Also in March, it was revealed a developer had bought the St Briavels site on Archer St.

The new owner planned to build a nine-level unit tower, angering neighbours who say it will block river views from the heritage-listed American inter-war home.

And in 2019, White and Partners and Brisbane developer State Development Corporation, which is behind The Aviary, announced it would lodge a DA to transform a 1.3ha Toowong site, bounded by Jephson and High streets and Sherwood Rd.

Previous owner Stockland had planned to develop three 25-storey apartment buildings on the property, but the new owners said at the time that they wanted to build a two-level retail centre, 4.5 star 25-level hotel with some owner-occupier apartments, and a 12 to 14-level office building.

Local state Greens MP, Michael Berkman, said he was pushing for a windfall profits tax on big developers, and to remove the cap on infrastructure charges.

“Developers are making a killing on the west side, so they should pay their fair share to make sure our suburbs can accommodate our new neighbours,’’ he said.

“Council and the State Government could still buy back the ABC site to create a riverside park, but that’s not the only option.

“To give those new residents somewhere to stretch their legs, Council could also expand Perrin Park by converting the off-limits SES Depot to public parkland.

“It’s also really disappointing that Council failed to require the LNP-donor developers of the Toowong Town Square complex to pay to expand the long-planned but much-neglected Toowong Urban Common, despite the requirements in their own Neighbourhood Plan.”