Suburb gets its first supermarket, after 177-year wait

Kangaroo Point, one of Brisbane’s oldest suburbs, will get its first ever supermarket. But there’s a price to be paid by locals.

Artist's impression of the proposed 25 Ferry St, Kangaroo Point building which will have a podium level limited line supermarket.

One of Queensland’s oldest suburbs, Kangaroo Point, will finally get a supermarket if a developer is given the go-ahead for a mixed-use medium-rise project.

The first land sales took place at Kangaroo Point in 1843 and the first residence, built for surveyor James Warner, went up the next year.

But in the following 177 years there has never been a proper supermarket.

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Fabcot Pty Ltd has revised its plans for a site fronting Ferry and Deakin streets which now includes a full retail podium with 1742 sqm, limited line supermarket on the ground floor, as well as food and drink specialty stores.

“It will provide a choice of goods that will be somewhere between a metro style offer and full line size,’’ Fabcot’s development application (DA) said.

“A strong trading catchment has been identified within the local area that is currently not serviced by a local supermarket.

“The establishment of a supermarket in this location will deliver additional choice and convenience for residents.

“The Kangaroo Point Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan also contemplates the establishment of a supermarket in this location as an anchor to the town centre.’’

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Councillor Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) said he welcomed a supermarket, saying residents currently had to drive to Woolloongabba or East Brisbane to shop at a Coles or Woolies.

“Residents have been asking me about this for a long time,’’ Cr Sri said.

“Kangaroo Point really does need a decent supermarket, though naturally I’d prefer to see an independent supermarket or a group of smaller businesses as opposed to just a Coles or Woolworths.”

“Right now, a lot of Kangaroo Point residents drive to other suburbs for shopping, so providing more local options will help reduce car dependency.”

“I’m going to continue working collaboratively with council and the private sector to get more shops and services into the Kangaroo Point peninsula.

“In addition to a well-designed supermarket in Kangaroo Point, I’d like to see some of the space under the Story Bridge repurposed for regular farmers markets and arts and crafts markets.”

Councillor Jonathan Sri welcomes a supermarket but says the Fabcot proposal is not a good one in many respects. Picture: AAP/Sarah Marshall

The project has a site coverage of 83 per cent, vastly more than the 40 per cent set to be imposed on February 28 when the Kangaroo Point Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan comes into effect.

Developers in the area have been fast-tracking proposals in an effort to beat the new, lower site coverage limit.

Cr Sri said he was very disappointed with the overall proposal from Fabcot, saying it did not meet even the bare minimum requirement to plant trees on 10 per cent of the site.

It was also too close to boundary lines and the addition of a mezzanine level effectively made it an 11-storey building, not 10 storeys as was claimed.

“Unfortunately it also doesn’t activate or engage with the Deakin St and Ferry St frontages as much as it should,’’ he said.

“Good mixed-use development creates vibrant streets where there’s a gradual transition between the private sphere and public sphere, whereas this project presents fairly dull walls with a narrow landscaping buffer along much of the frontage.

“The project isn’t altogether terrible, but it’s such a long way from best-practice that it makes you wonder: ‘Is this really the best we can hope for? Why aren’t we demanding and aspiring to higher quality design?’”

Fabcot engaged leading architects Cottee Parker to design the revamped project.

Above the supermarket, a mezzanine level was proposed which would function either as ancillary office and storage space for the supermarket downstairs, or as a stand-alone central office which could accommodate a head office for the supermarket, or otherwise a separate business.

The residential tower component of the project comprised 62 units averaging 98sqm each.

Communal amenities and recreation would include an indoor gymnasium, pool, lounge deck, BBQ areas with seating pod and an open lawn.

Cr Sri said it would have been preferable to create a small public park on part of the site.