Development plans for former ABC site at Toowong lodged by Consolidated Property

One of the city’s last remaining riverfront sites will be home to 300 units and a $7m penthouse after the developer lodged plans for the once beleaguered site.

Designed by award-winning architect John Wardle, the $520m Monarch, Coronation Drive at Toowong, in the city’s west, is expected to appeal to a broad range of buyers. Picture: John Wardle Architects

Brisbane is about to snare a luxury riverfront apartment complex, with plans for the development of three north-facing towers on one of the city’s last remaining riverfront sites.

Designed by award-winning architect John Wardle, the $520m Monarch, Coronation Drive at Toowong, in the city’s west, is expected to appeal to a broad range of buyers, from local downsizers to expats returning to the Sunshine State.

The developer, Consolidated Properties chairman Don O’Rorke, says the 292-unit complex will appeal to purchasers because of its extensive views towards the city, wide 100m river frontage, as well as its access to the nearby University of Queensland and Toowong’s shopping precincts.

The site was once the home of the ABC and was mired in controversy following a breast cancer cluster some 15 years ago. Sunland originally proposed a “champagne flute” three-tower development designed by the acclaimed architect, Zaha Hadid.

However, Sunland decided to sell the site and most structures were demolished more than 15 years ago or were fully remediated, Consolidated Properties said.

Subsequent testing reveals the site has been completely remediated.

Consolidated Properties filed the development application for the project on Friday and will start construction in the second half of next year with the towers to be built at the same time and finished in 24 months.

“There’s a lot of demand for apartments in the inner west which has been unsatisfied for years; there’s a lot of downsizers in Toowong, and buyers will also hail from St Lucia, and then all the way out to Pullenvale and Brookfield,” Mr O’Rorke said.

Monarch, Coronation Drive will feature a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom skyhomes, villas and penthouses priced from $550,000 for the one-bedders through to $7m-plus for the penthouses.

“This site has been spoken about for many years in terms of its development potential; now it is going to happen, it is by far the best site, with its north-facing views over the city towards the river,” Mr O’Rorke said.

Consolidated Properties Group purchased the 600 Coronation Drive parcel and former ABC site, which spans 1.5ha, for $43.5m from Sunland in March.

All apartments, which are planned to hit the market in the first quarter of next year, will come with river views and are set among 12,500sq m of landscaped gardens, 3000sq m of which are public parkland and pathways connected to the riverfront. The plans also allow for a pedestrian walkway and a separate dedicated cycle path connecting Coronation Drive through to Archer St.

Consolidated Properties Group purchased the 600 Coronation Drive parcel and former ABC site, which spans 1.5ha, for $43.5m from Sunland in March. Picture: John Wardle Architects

AIA Gold Medal award-winning architect John Wardle Architects has designed the development, with the heritage-registered Middenbury House retained as a key part of the design. Consolidated Properties Group head of residential James MacGinley expects the project will become a landmark precinct in Brisbane.

“It is a unique site. There is no better-connected site in Brisbane than 600 Coronation Drive, which has rail, bus, ferry, pedestrian and cycleway linkages, as well as a proposed green bridge at its doorstep,” Mr MacGinley said.

“The plans not only allow for 15-storey buildings that meet Brisbane City Council’s City Plan, but more importantly, the John Wardle design reflects quintessential Queensland living while paying homage to the past.

“The oversized apartments have been carefully designed to celebrate the front-row river views both north and south. They range from the affordable through to the luxury but are all uncompromising in their layout and liveability.”

Monarch’s team, comprising Consolidated Properties Group, Hutchinson Builders, John Wardle Architects and funding partner Qualitas, was the same one that delivered the award-winning Spire Residences on Queen St.

John Wardle Architects partner Stefan Mee said the design emerged from the natural qualities of the site.

“The overall design intent is to draw the character of the riverbank into the site, to reintegrate the historic Middenbury House into its reimagined landscape, and to integrate the residential towers into a beautifully connected precinct,” Mr Mee said.

As part of the design, Middenbury House will be restored and refurbished and later used for a retail site, with the public able to access the house for the first time since it was built in 1865.

Hutchinson Builders chairman Scott Hutchinson said Monarch, Coronation Drive was an exciting project that came hot on the heels of the start of construction of the $850m Yeerongpilly Green Riverside community, also being developed by Consolidated Properties Group.

“We’re proud to be working once again with our partners at Consolidated Properties Group on another milestone development that will change the face of the Brisbane Riverfront for the better,” Mr Hutchinson said.