Billionaire brings welcome development to former Central Fair Shopping Centre

VICTORIAN billionaire Zac Fried has emerged as the owner of this former Masters hardware site and he has big plans to have it developed within months.

The former Central Fair Shopping Centre in Mt Gravatt which is now going to be turned into a mixed-use residential.

BILLIONAIRE Victorian Zac Fried has emerged as the owner of the former Masters hardware site on Creek Rd and he has revealed plans to have it developed into a mixed-use residential and commercial hub within months.

The executive deputy chairman of Spotlight Group Holdings and a ­director of the Carlton Football Club, Mr Fried bought the 1.8ha Creek Rd site last year after Woolworths sold after its failed foray into hardware.

In April last year, Brisbane City Council approved a development application for a Masters Home Improvement Store to be built on the site but that proposal fell over within weeks when Woolworths pulled the plug.

Long-suffering residents say the site has become a hotbed of drug dealing and squatting since Masters walked away.

Demolition crews spent the week clearing the site.

A bulldozer clearing the site last week.

Mr Fried, with a personal wealth estimated at $1.16 billion, told The Southern Star he bought the land when Masters sold and confirmed an expansive Spotlight warehouse would soon be erected.

“The site is currently being cleaned up and made safe,” Mr Fried said.

“In 2018 we are excited to lodge some plans, similar to those proposed for the site before Masters occupied the site. These are mixed-use plans. We will potentially be looking at retail, residential and office space.”

Councillor Krista Adams (Holland Park) is happy to see the redevelopment start on the site and said a Spotlight warehouse would be a better outcome for to the local community.

“I didn’t want a hardware site back then with the Masters development application, I wanted to see a mixed-use residential development then and that is ideally what I would still like to see in the future in some capacity,” she said.

“But a Spotlight warehouse would fit in well and I congratulate the Spotlight Group for investing in Mt Gravatt and the southside.”

Concerned father of three Paul French contacted The Southern Star last week to raise his safety concerns, and social media discussion throughout the community has been forthright.

“We want some clarity on what is happening on the site,” Mr French said.

“It’s a dangerous place at night and there is lots of activity around that area after dark. Surely after all this time something has to be done to turn it into a place with purpose.”