Rats, broken windows, graffiti: Anger at eyesore in prestige Brisbane westside street
It’s supposed to boast three shiny new retirement living towers. But a prominent real estate agent and his neighbours say the site of this controversial westside project is now a sorry vandalised eyesore.
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Residents in a prestigious westside suburb fear they face years of being unable to sell their units as progress stalls on one of Brisbane’s most controversial highrises.
The site of three proposed retirement and aged care towers on Seven Oaks St, Taringa, has gradually fallen into disrepair since the towers were approved following a 2019 court battle.
Retirement and aged care giant TriCare scaled back its plans to one nine-storey and two seven-storey towers, although even that is up to three times the allowable height limit under the Neighbourhood Plan.
The 52 Seven Oaks St site, once the headquarters for pathology group Sullivan & Nicolaides, is now overgrown, with weeds, long grass and piles of dead branches on the carparks and in the grounds.
Many windows and walls are broken or smashed, it is covered in graffiti and holes have been made in the wire security fence.
Neighbours have photographed trespassers, some believed to be Indooroopilly State High School students, who sometimes run across the rusting roof at night or camp out inside.
A building manager at Kingshome, whose multi million-dollar units overlook the site, said he had been forced to double rat baiting and significantly increased cockroach baiting.
He said water boosters were uncovered, which he feared could affect water pressure in the event of a fire.
TriCare was approached for comment.
It came under fire for the state of its nursing home site at Carina Heights, which also became a target for vandals after lying vacant for years.
Council eventually hit it with a compliance order in 2019 to force it to clean up the property.
Kingshome resident Arthur Conias, the principal of the iconic real estate agency of the same name, said nobody was selling their units because buyers did not want to live next to a future construction site.
“Our solicitor has asked them (TriCare) what they’re up to, but we’ve had no reply,’’ he said.
“The body corporate has asked them to maintain the property.
“Their (development) approval doesn’t expire until (approximately) 2025/2026 and it’s likely they will build tower three first, then the others.
“No one will buy in our building until it’s finished, but it could be years.’’
Residents, mainly from Kingshome and the Manor Apartments next door, fought a bruising campaign over several years to try to force TriCare to stick to height limits in City Plan.
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Originally published as Rats, broken windows, graffiti: Anger at eyesore in prestige Brisbane westside street
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