Super-sized: Kangaroo Point tower, supermarket project gets bigger

A developer has applied to make this inner-Brisbane suburb’s first ever supermarket even bigger. It also wants to add another seven levels to the unit tower above it. SEE THE PLANS

Public information sessions will be held next week for an upsized Woolworths, the first supermarket ever built in Kangaroo Point.

Developer Fabcot Pty Ltd has lodged plans to expand the smaller, limited line Woolies approved by Council in December last year to a “near full line’’ outlet.

It now planned a two-stage project, with an enlarged four-level basement, services and the supermarket to be built first.

Residential parking would not be opened until the second stage, involving a taller unit tower above, was finished. It featured an extra seven levels, including a rooftop garden.

A BWS liquor store and a cafe fronting Deakin St would still be built.

Artist's impression of the new tower.

The information sessions would be held at the Story Bridge Hotel on October 13, from 11am to 12.30pm, and on October 15, from 5-6.30pm.

Some locals have welcomed the Woolies since Kangaroo Point, one of the oldest suburbs in Queensland, has never had a supermarket.

But many of the 60-odd submissions on the earlier, approved 10-storey tower expressed concerns about noise, traffic and road safety.

Town planners Urbis said in the development application (DA) that Fabcot was revising its approved plans, which expired in 2024, because height limits in the area under the new local neighbourhood plan were now much higher.

“Since the previous approval was obtained, there have been significant changes to the City Plan...’’ Urbis wrote in the DA documents.

Aerial view of the site.

“The current City Plan allows for a maximum of 15 storeys on the site, in comparison to the previous version of the City Plan which allowed for a maximum of 10 storeys.’’

The project area was now also larger after Fabcot bought an extra parcel of land.

The site has a total frontage of 40m along Ferry St, 45m along Prospect St and a combined frontage of 77m along Deakin St. Existing buildings would be demolished.

One elderly person who lodged a submission said they had lived in the suburb for 15 years and were now in their 70s. They greatly looked forward to selling their car and being able to go shopping on foot.

But some residents, particularly those living at the nearby Dockside riverfront complex, wrote that they were concerned about traffic impacts on the already busy corner of Deakin St.

“The planning intention is to accommodate ‘local shopping services to serve the local

community’ and allows for a maximum gross floor area of 750 sqm,’’ one local wrote.

“In our view, a supermarket was anticipated to occur within the ‘town centre’, not to exceed 750 sqm in GFA and to serve the local community.’’

For more details visit Council’s online DA portal developmenti. Search for application A005384910