The Newman Government has finalised the sale of the former Brisbane Supreme and District Courts in George Street, allowing for the largest single development to date in the Brisbane CBD.
Housing and Public Works Minister Tim Mander said the Government had sold the site to the Shayher Group to redevelop into a mixed-use precinct including a 5-star hotel.
“The legal precinct in George Street has undergone a huge transformation in recent years with the completion of the eye-catching new Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law complex which opened in late 2012,” Mr Mander said.
“The redevelopment of the old site on the corner of Adelaide and George Streets will further rejuvenate the area and provide much needed 5-star accommodation for visitors to Brisbane.
“It is very rare that a site of this size that backs on to the Brisbane River becomes available for development.
“Shayher Group will commence early site works as soon as possible, creating approximately 5,700 direct and indirect jobs over the life of the project.
“When considered with the construction of 1 William Street, the redevelopment will add further stimulus to the construction industry.”
Shayher Group spokesman Peter Sia said it was hoped the redevelopment, which includes a hotel, office block and residential towers, would also feature a fitting nod to the site’s past.
Mr Mander described the development as exciting and said it was expected to be completed by 2018.
“In fact it will be the biggest single development to date in Brisbane’s CBD,” he said.
“What is planned here is a mixed-tenancy development which will comprise of a 70-storey residential tower, a 30-storey office block and an 18-storey, five-star, world-class hotel which will have at least 190 rooms.”
Mr Sia said while construction would start as soon as possible, more work needed to be done on the design.
“Even though they (the planned buildings) are good looking they are very much conceptual and we want to better the design by bringing international architects to work together with local architects to make the buildings more iconic for Brisbane,” he said.
Mr Sia would not reveal the end value of the multimillion-dollar development but said he expected the value to be “quite high”.
As a requirement of the sale, developer Shayher Group was required to deliver a residential and serviced apartment tower with a gross floor area of approximately 65,000 square metres.
In addition, there will also be a commercial office tower of about 45,000 square metres.
Ms Stuckey said new hotels in Brisbane will help the State Government achieve its target of $30b in overnight visitor expenditure by 2020.
The soon-to-be redeveloped Supreme and District Courts Building in George Street was built in the 1970s, replacing the original building built in the 1800s which was destroyed by fire.
The original building was designed by the Colonial Architect, FDG Stanley and was built by the Petrie Construction Company in the 1870s.
The design and height of the development is yet to be finalised, however an artist’s impression has been released showing several conceptual towers ranging in height.
In December 2011, the then Labor government announced a tender process to sell off the site and recommended that the proposal should include a new Brisbane theatre to replace the old Regent Theatre which was recently demolished to make way for a now defunct office tower proposal.
Brisbane Development will keep you updated as soon as final plans are revealed.
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Who designed the buildings?
I can not wait to see the final design :O exciting stuff..
Hopefully, the final design will adequately address the river frontage, taking into account the RSE. Otherwise, we will begin to have a very tall picket fence along the river’s edge, probably pretty from Southbank at night, yes. But, I don’t think it will add value to Brisbane’s character. I guess I really want this thing to integrate with its surrounds, Roma, George (1 William) Queen and the river (southbank/goma). Here’s hoping.
WOW!!!
The office block is depicted here (in the above render) as 45 stories +, not 30 stories…what gives?
This is the sort of class development that Brisbane has been crying out for. Hopefully the old executive building will become part of a new mega casino development and along with 1 Willaim Street, this would help to completly transform the northbank aspect of the river. I am very impressed by the look of this proposal.
Joe? “a new mega casino development”?? and what on earth would that do for our city? Come, on…
Blacknganga,are you serious?Mega casino can left a city man
It stinks that the Regent was demolished for no reason… stinks even more that the Theatre never went ahead on this property. I suspect if the Regent Tower incorporated a theatre, it might have some success.
Yes, Brisbane needs The Regent Theatre rebuilt above and beyond another casino, another empty office tower or more retail outlets. Its’ heritage listed grand foyer sits awaiting a full scale theatre rebuild.
The original 1920s walls and rear Elizabeth Street façade of the Regent’s theatre box should never have been demolished in 2011-12. This was done swiftly to avoid heritage protection, in fact the developers purchased “immunity” of protection! Yet another Brisbane and Queensland failure. But we can turn this around now, with a state of the art heritage-styled theatre restored in the bottom levels of the proposed tower complex. The HMP for the Regent site currently stipulates 3 small unviable auditoria, not suitable for anything but digital presentations, and definitely not for live performance. Brisbane does not need another CBD multiplex cinema, but it sure does desperately need another main house live theatre.
A fully functional Regent Theatre with viable capacity of 1200-2000, will create thousands of jobs every year, boost CBD evening trade for retail, restaurants, cafes and bars, and will put Brisbane back on the map as a destination for touring shows and concert promoters and it will put Brisbane’s Queen Street back on the map as a tourist destination with a legitimate cultural attraction.
The Regent Theatre will be the perfect venue for touring musicals, dance productions, music concerts, local production companies, comedy, vaudeville and variety shows, as well as return to its’ traditional role as Brisbane’s premiere red carpet picture palace for film premieres and BIFF.
I would love to sit with a developer and designer and show them how to incorporate a fully functional live performance theatre and entertainment complex into The Regent tower development, complete with fly tower, dress circle, bio boxes, lighting positions, fire egress, loading, amenities and functional details for a fully working theatre complex, complete with ballroom/showcase cinema, theatrette, studio space and dressing rooms, as well as film facilities for screening events and to accommodate our displaced film bodies.
Only then, will Brisbane and The Regent tower will have its’ cultural integrity restored with the people of this city.
Can’t disagree there^
This is what happens when the state sells off a piece of prime land and now has no control over what is and what isn’t included in the designs…
Toowong Village on steroids
George Street has been pipped for the last couple of years to be the new CBD and this development will seal the deal.
Having lived overseas most of my adult life Brisbane seemed insignificant and lifeless. The rapid growth in areas such as arts and theatre, banking, restaurants and hotels is so exciting. Now I feel Brisbane is the place to settle and enjoy.
Well done Shayer Group on getting approval for this fabulous development.