ISPT shopping around the Myer Centre for past 12 months but no takers

It was once renowned as the Brisbane CBD’s retail jewel, but a campaign to sell the vacant former Myer Centre has hit a multimillion-dollar snag.

The former Myer Centre after it was renamed Uptown in August 2023.

Property super fund giant ISPT has been quietly shopping around its 75 per cent share of the near vacant Myer Centre.

If you remember two years ago, Myer moved out of its flagship Queen Street Mall shopping centre, and it was renamed Uptown with ISPT and its 25 per cent partner Vicinity Centres announcing a $500m refurbishment.

However, everything has stalled and ISPT seems more focused on the renewal of its Wintergarden shopping centre at the Edward St end of the Mall and the adjoining former Hilton Hotel at the rear which undergoing a rebranding and renovation with IHG Hotels & Resorts moving in.

Back in 2012 ISPT bought a 50 per cent stake in the then Myer Centre for $366m and four years later acquired another 25 per cent from Vicinity, which is the centre’s management company.

Industry sources say there’s been no formal sales campaign but ISPT has been shopping around Uptown for the past 12 months and while there’s been some interest, there’s been no takers for plenty of reasons.

Myer Centre in 2023.

We hear that price is the biggest stumbling block with its current book value of about $250m and ISPT obviously has higher expectations.

Another stumbling block is its partner Vicinity and the need for them to fully get on board for a more attractive offering of 100 per cent of the six-storey property.

Citybeat has contacted Vicinity who directed inquiries to ISPT and the super fund giant refused to comment.

The immediate future of the 1.27ha site is anybody’s guess at this stage but such a large site has long-term office tower potential.

But I suppose the price has to be right.

Award

A Newstead business that specialises in real time 3D architecture visualisation has won the Best PropTech for Off-The Plan gong at the sector’s association’s annual awards.

Started by entrepreneurs Clint Motley and Christian Schwerdtfeger (illustrated) less than three years ago, IMMERSIV has won the backing of property giant REA Group.

Schwerdtfeger says they started the business with “nothing but an idea and some serious conviction that the way people buy property was going to change”.

“No funding. No blueprint. Just belief,” he says.

“The road to here hasn’t been smooth. There’s been plenty of late nights, near-misses, hard lessons, and moments of “what the heck are we doing?

“But we’ve built something that truly works. We’re scaling up fast now. New projects. New markets. New hires. Same mission.”

Future proofing

The major customer of a powder coating company which was on the verge of collapse has bought the company.

Versatile Structures and subsidiary, Versatile Manufacturing, have acquired Superior Coaters which has a Dulux-accredited powder coating facility in Richlands.

In April, Versatile Structures was told that Superior Coaters would be shutting its doors within two weeks and ceasing all new orders and the company’s directors acted swiftly to safeguard continuity.

Versatile Structures director Jamie Howard.

“Superior Coaters handled up to 30 per cent of our jobs, including major projects like the Bridgeman Downs basketball structures, Dreamworld Projects,” says director Jamie Howard.

“More than that, they were one of the few coaters in Brisbane with the capacity and accreditation to handle our scale.”

The acquisition also preserves all jobs at Superior Coaters.

Originally published as ISPT shopping around the Myer Centre for past 12 months but no takers