Brisbane’s burger wars: Three fast food giants collide in CBD face-off

The imminent arrival of a US fast food giant in Brisbane CBD is set to spark a war of a meaty kind with three of the world’s largest burger chains only metres from each other.

Brisbane's burger wars are heating up with three within metres of each other in the CBD.

The world’s a tricky place at the moment but the imminent arrival of a US fast food giant near a pivotal intersection of the Brisbane CBD is set to spark a war of a meaty kind with three of the world’s largest burger chains only metres from each other.

Wendy’s is the world’s third-largest hamburger fast-food chain, following McDonald’s and Burger King, and they have lodged a development application for a flagship restaurant at the former Bupa tenancy in a two-storey building at the corner of Albert and Adelaide streets.

McDonald’s is down the road on the Mall at 130 Queen St and Hungry Jack’s is just across from there.

An artist's impression of Wendy's restaurant - without signage - on the corner of Albert and Adelaide streets in the Brisbane CBD.

The proposal by Wendy’s Australia includes facades of the existing building being upgraded with Wendy’s branding.

Both floors will have a combined capacity for around 150 people.

Wendy’s opened its first Queensland restaurant at Cavill Mall in Surfers Paradise.

It’s the burger giant’s second go at the Australian market having opened in Australia in the 1970s.

However, the appetite wasn’t there and by 1986 almost all of their Australian stores had been purchased by Hungry Jack’s, the Australian franchisee of Burger King.

Let the burger wars begin.

An artist's impression of Wendy's restaurant - without signage - on the corner of Albert and Adelaide streets in the Brisbane CBD.

Ghost town

It’s been almost two years since Myer vacated its eponymous flagship building in the Queen Street Mall and you’d have to wonder what’s going on.

In August 2023 this scribe was told by Vicinity Centres CEO Peter Huddle that the Myer Centre – or what it was later called Uptown – that they and partners ISPT (which own 75 per cent of the building) were working on plans for an extensive refurbishment of the five storey centre to be worth about $500m.

The old Myer Centre was renamed Uptown Photo: Lyndon Mechielsen

But we haven’t seen much if anything yet and those in the know say the owners have differing visions of what the future holds for Uptown.

As academic and retail expert Professor Gary Mortimer says “nothing’s been done as far as I can see” apart from some pop shops and activations.

“When the major flagship store leaves and you have five levels of nothing, it would be costing the owners a mint to just run the property on top of having all that space which is not returning any revenue,” he says.

“It’s a bit of a ghost town and it has a bad knock on effect on the top end of the mall.”

A Vicinity spokesman said they were actively progressing potential schemes but could not confirm any timelines.

“The high volume of infrastructure activity across Queensland continues to place pressure on the construction sector, and elevated costs remain a challenge for retail development projects,” he said.

Legal moves

There’s always a bit of movement in legal circles and Pitcher Partners has kicked off the new financial year with two new partners at its Brisbane office.

Anthony Kazamias (Private Business and Family Advisory) and Sean Troyahn (Business Advisory and Assurance) have become partners.

Also, compensation law firm Travis Schultz & Partners, has recruited Sarah Grace as special counsel at its Brisbane office. Grace was previously with Shine Lawyers and before that Maurice Blackburn Lawyers.

In Toowoomba, Creevey Horrell Lawyers has revamped its leadership group, with special counsel Ben van de Beld appointed Principal while the firm has also elevated senior associate Lucas Hickey to special council and criminal law specialist Matthew McCarthy to senior associate.

Originally published as Brisbane’s burger wars: Three fast food giants collide in CBD face-off