Leading property company buys controversial riverfront site

A LEADING Queensland developer has confirmed it has bought a controversial site on an exclusive Brisbane riverfront street and will build a 26-unit residential tower there. It’s believed the house on the site will be demolished within months.

Irma Muller outside the 160 Macquarie St site. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

LEADING Queensland developer QM Properties has confirmed it has bought a controversial site on an exclusive Brisbane riverfront street and will build a 26-unit residential tower there.

QM confirmed this afternoon that it had bought a 1200sq m site at 160 Macquarie St, in St Lucia, and will proceed with a pre-existing approval for a 26-unit medium-rise residential tower.

Resident Irma Muller said she was told by a real estate agent this week that the house on the site would be demolished within months.

160 Macquarie Street at St Lucia is right on the river. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

In April, Brisbane City Council knocked back former Melbourne-based owner Kokoda Properties’ controversial plan to build a 15 level, 73-unit tower with six underground levels including car parking.

Council officers cited concerns with the excavation on a floodprone site which was partly reclaimed from a local creek, traffic impacts, and effects on a huge, heritage-listed fig tree at the front of the site.

It’s believed the building now on the site will be demolished within months. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

Kokoda appealed in the Planning and Environment Court but Council confirmed in a letter to Mrs Muller that the company had issued a notice of discontinuance on its appeal, on June 1.

The development is the latest twist in a six-year saga which has seen the height of proposed developments and the number of units grow and grow.

It also went from being impact assessable, giving residents far greater rights of appeal and notification, to code assessable, which greatly limits residents’ rights.

“We tried to fight against the current application for 26 units in the court but had to withdraw after we ran out of money,’’ Mrs Muller said.

“But we certainly hope this will be better than the previous plan for 73 units.’’

Councillor Julian Simmonds (Walter Taylor), who tomorrow steps down as City Planning chairman, and state Greens MP for the Indooroopilly-based seat of Maiwar have both spoken out against the Kokoda plan.

Cr Julian Simmonds. Picture: AAP/John Gass

The Courier-Mail show Kokoda entered a discontinuance Properties have acquired 160 Macquarie St, St Lucia, which currently has a development approval for 26 units.

As a local developer, with a 40-year history of delivering quality projects, and our plan for St Lucia is to develop the site in line with the current approval.

Macquarie St resident John Argus, who has been involved in the battle from almost the beginning, said the site was originally only 800sq m, half of which was used as a factory by Alvey Reels, the famous fishing reel manufacturer.

The Alvey family matriarch lived near door.

But after the family sold both properties Myer Centre, CBD, developer Michael Brown amalgamated the two sites and was given permission to reclaim a further 400sq m from the creek.

After he ran into financial difficulties he sold to Greg Bitomsky in 2000 for $2.9 million, who in turn sold it, in 2014, for $6.75 million, before Kokoda claimed to have acquired it for $9.5 million several years ago.

It is not known what QM Properties paid for it.

It said in a statement: “QM Properties have acquired 160 Macquarie St, St Lucia, which currently has a development approval for 26 units.

“As a local developer, with a 40-year history of delivering quality projects, our plan for St Lucia is to develop the site in line with the current approval.’’