Shorter, wider, with more space: Queen Street Mall tower plans modified

Developers have downsized – and upscaled – plans for a new tower at the top of the Queen Street Mall, lopping eight storeys off the top while adding almost 3000 square metres of commercial floor space.

Fund manager Charter Hall’s plans for a 34-storey tower, originally proposed in 2020, received council approval that year. But this week, alterations to the plan were submitted to Brisbane City Council.

Charter Hall has submitted plans for a 26-storey tower at the top of Queen Street Mall. Earlier plans were for 34 storeys.Credit: Blight Rayner

Those alterations would reduce the height from 34 storeys (158 metres) to 26 (125 metres), but by widening the footprint the amount of commercial floor space would increase by 2848 square metres, from 29,042 to 31,890.

As a result, the tower’s site cover would increase from 55 per cent to 85.5 per cent.

Comment has been sought from Charter Hall.

A St George Bank branch occupies the ground level of the site at 60 George Street, opposite Reddacliff Place.

In an assessment report submitted to the council on Charter Hall’s behalf, town planning firm Urbis said the changes were a “direct response to market demand”.

“To accommodate major top-tier national and international tenants, larger floor plates are required to satisfy modern workplace objectives,” Urbis said.

“The proposal seeks to redistribute a similar overall [gross floor area] to that previously approved, via larger floor plates, across less levels.”

Urbis listed several reasons Charter Hall had decided on its new approach.

“Major tenants in the city are seeking further renewal and improvement of their office facilities, with employee experience now being a key requirement,” Urbis said.

“... Key prospective tenants for Brisbane continue to seek large floor plate sized accommodation ... that can accommodate diverse but well-connected facilities within tenancies.

“Due to ongoing population growth for Brisbane, as well as a lack of recent proposals for new major commercial projects in the city, it is predicted that there will be a moderate undersupply of A-grade commercial office space within the city within the next five years.”

Just days ago, Sumner Innovate submitted plans to convert an office tower at 150 Charlotte Street, with its 13,774 square metres of floor space, into student accommodation.

Another major departure from the approved plans was the removal of an arcade between Queen Street and Burnett Lane.

“Design reviews identified that the connection through to Burnett Lane provides no strategic contribution to the pedestrian movement network for the site and immediate surrounds,” Urbis said.

“In particular, the arcade does not connect Queen Street to any specific destination within Burnett Lane, rather loading areas [‘back of house’] for adjoining and adjacent buildings.

“Furthermore, there are existing connections between the mall and Burnett Lane within close proximity on either side of the arcade through the site. This includes George Street itself and the link through the Queen Adelaide Building.”

Diagonally across from the proposed building sits the Treasury Casino, which will be vacated this year when the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf casino opens.

Charter Hall had plans to acquire the space for $248 million and turn it into a hotel and high-end retail precinct, but pulled out of the long-term deal last June.

Three months later, Star appointed McVay Real Estate and JLL to sell the old Treasury building, along with the nearby Treasury Hotel and an underground car park.

Late last year, McVay Real Estate’s Sam McVay said they had received interest from across the world, including “London, the Middle East, Asia and Australia”.

On Friday, McVay said there were no updates to provide.