Locals fear 25-storey tower would turn tennis lawns into concrete jungle

A long-planned residential project in Yeerongpilly on the doorstep of the Queensland Tennis Centre has made a play to almost triple its height limits.

But residents in the area said the proposal would be a breach of the deal, with one fearing the precinct would feel like a “concrete jungle”.

The $850 million masterplanned Yeerongpilly Green has been in the works for more than a decade.

The corner of Queens Way and Bedivere Street, Yeerongpilly, where developers have proposed a 25-storey tower that would dwarf the Tennyson Reach towers (pictured in rear).Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt

Developer Consolidated Properties holds several approved applications to build medium-density residential projects in the area, which locals said had drawn them to the area.

But some residents considered the proposed height of 25 storeys – double that of the nearby Tennyson Reach residential towers – unexpected and unwelcome.

Architectural renderings of a proposed tower along King Arthur Terrace and Bedivere Street.Credit: Consolidated Properties

“We expected that [a 12-storey] skyline might be reproduced towards the back of the development and that there’d be winding terraces along [the precinct centre], semi-open for public access,” said Rob Cramb, a resident in a neighbouring pocket of townhouses.

“There’s about a dozen townhouses [along Ortive Street] … that’s the sort of thing I think we were expecting, and that you would still be able to wander through [the precinct centre] without feeling you’re in a concrete jungle.”

The townhouses – built in 2023 – were also constructed by Consolidated Properties, after the completion of a shopping precinct in 2021 designed to form the heart of the neighbourhood.

Consolidated Properties head of residential property James MacGinley said the group needed to build high to have something “actually feasible to build”.

“We did have the first development … for a series of low, broad, six-story buildings on that site, and we actually sold those in 2020 and 2021 … and then the prices [for construction] just went up and up and up.

“The construction price for that style of development now, from where it was back when we couldn’t build it in 2021, it’s more than double.”

Developer Consolidated Properties has a view to build up to five buildings in its Yeerongpilly Green precinct (with potential locations shown in white) and submitted plans for a tower on Bedivere Street. Credit: Consolidated Properties

MacGinley said the density of the project had not changed, with the company swapping the building footprint for height, and offering more green space on the ground.

Locals – including independent Tennyson ward councillor Nicole Johnston – remained sceptical.

“Under the proposal by Consolidated Properties, this would be the first of at least five 25-storey-high towers that would turn Yeerongpilly into another West End,” Johnston said.

“We need well-built housing that responds to local needs, constraints, and character … and that is not the case under the current proposal.”

Cramb said despite his desire for development in the area, he would “rather have nothing built there than those five towers” at the proposed height limit.

Others said the area was itching to be developed.

Ross Stainlay has lived at Tennyson Reach for just under a year with his wife, after downsizing from their Sherwood home of over 30 years. He said their current home had taken significant time and research to find.

“We feel there’s a shortage of places that satisfy the classic downsizer market,” he said.

Undeveloped land in the Yeerongpilly Green precinct between Bedivere Street and Tennyson Reach.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt

Stainlay said if the tower was already built he might have considered living there. But he said the project’s height was “a stand-out and will be noticed”.

The proposal was currently under consideration, with an outcome expected before the end of the year.

More than two dozen locals have submitted letters, with Johnston issuing a flyer encouraging more to have their say.

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