Developer Fiteni plan for housing on Wellington Point landmark venue Botanix

A rundown Wellington Point events venue will be opened to the public for the first time in 15 years in an effort to gauge whether locals will back a plan to turn it into a housing estate.

The front entrance to the former Botanix venue. PHOTO: McGees Property

A vacant events venue, once used for up-market weddings and as a training ground for the hospitality industry, will be brought back to life for the first time in 15 years.

Prominent Redland city developer Fiteni Homes is opening the gates to the former Botanix Lifestyle Garden Centre on Nelson Rd, Wellington Point on February 24.

The event is being publicised as community consultation to “reimagine” the site for the future despite plans for a 64-lot housing estate already approved by Redland City Council in 2018.

Fiteni hopes to guage public opinion on levelling the site for small-lot and mixed housing.

Inside the former Botanix venue, which was known for its floor-to-ceiling glass walls. PHOTO: McGees Property

Residential estate developer Joe Fiteni bought the 7.7ha Botanix site for $6.85 million in 2012, paying the bayside city’s highest price for land that year.

But since then the site has deteriorated, with graffiti splashed across most walls of the once elegant dining room. Large glass bay windows are now smashed.

In 2016, after heavy rain, there were calls for investigations into whether the building would need to be demolished.

Fiteni denied land banking claims in June 2022 and said it was not withholding the release of housing land until building costs dropped and land prices rose.

The developer also said it was building 100 new houses a year, in line with State Government requirements for Redland to provide an extra 11,000 by 2041.

The original approved masterplan for the site, now listed with a “past” status on the council website, showed house blocks ranging from 444 sqm to 910 sqm. Most blocks were less than 600 sqm.

Original plans showed 31 lots between Main Rd and the former Botanix garden centre as stage one, with a further 33 blocks to the west of the centre as stage two.

An ecological report which was filed with the approved 2018 development application.

Fiteni spokesman Vaughn Bowden said the community event was to gauge public opinion on what the site should include and to prepare people for the disused land being turned into a housing estate.

“We are running a community engagement to speak to the Redland community about what the future housing needs for the city are,” he said.

“What we know about the Redlands is that housing needs are diverse and it's not a matter of one size fits all.

“We realise that the future of the site is not just about residential, but also amenity and so the masterplan will focus heavily on what the people in Wellington Point and Redlands in general want.”

Sheds on a part of the site. PHOTO: McGees Property

In the original masterplan, Cleveland consultants Biodiversity Assessment and Management recommended all trees in the state mapped medium-value bushland be retained.

However, its ecological report said all other trees, including mature koala food trees, would be removed to make way for civil engineering and drainage works.

The report also said it was not necessary to refer the tree clearing to the Federal Government for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The Botanix site was transformed from a flower farm into a Garden and Lifestyle Centre in 2005, but the business failed and closed in 2010.

Used car salesman John Creswick bought the site in 2010, but his redevelopment plans were never realised.

The original masterplan had “code assessable” approval and did not require public notification or community consultation.