Brisbane’s Top 15 Major Projects 2020

Brisbane is officially under construction. Everywhere you look, there is a major construction site underway. A city of 2.5 million, a region of 3.6 million, the city is undergoing monumental change, with 2020 welcoming the start of many new major projects about to come online.

The video above counts down Brisbane’s top 15 major projects of significance for the year. The significance of a project doesn’t always mean the associated dollar figure, but more how it will impact the city. Below is the list:

1. Brisbane Live

Brisbane Live is a large scale inner-city precinct development located at Roma Street Station, a surface level interchange train station for six Queensland rail lines.

The centrepiece of the project is a new 18,000 entertainment arena complex which would be built above the open-air Roma Street Rail Yards. Surrounding the arena, a large scale entertainment precinct is planned which would include a variety of mixed-use buildings.

Whilst Brisbane Live has an estimated dollar figure of only $2 billion for the above-ground infrastructure, compared to Queen’s Wharf’s $3.6 billion, what is about to be built below the surface will truly be a game-changer for the Brisbane CBD. The Northern Busway which currently runs through the transit centre will be sunk underground and interconnect with a brand new underground train station as part of Cross River Rail.

Brisbane Live would be the most connected piece of infrastructure boasting underground rail and bus as well as surface-level train connections to the existing rail network. For these reasons, it is Brisbane’s most significant project. The transit centre is currently being demolished as part of Cross River Rail project. The Queensland Government has initiated a market sounding process for the arena and surrounding land uses.

2. Queen’s Wharf Precinct

Queen’s Wharf is a $3.6 billion dollar integrated casino resort precinct which includes 50 new bars, cafes and restaurants, a public Skydeck known as the arc which straddles four buildings as well as urban fabric refurbishments to the North Bank of the river. The project also involves the transformation of the current heritage treasury building into a retail centre and a new pedestrian bridge that links to South Bank.

3. Cross River Rail

Cross River Rail is Queensland’s largest infrastructure project to date, reported to be around $6.8 billion. The project was created in order to fix a severe rail network capacity issue. With only one inner-city rail river crossing, the network is expected to be at capacity shortly without the new line built. Cross River Rail is a 10.2km rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, which includes 5.9 kilometres of twin tunnels under the Brisbane River and Brisbane CBD.

The project includes the construction of four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street. It will also deliver upgrades to eight above-ground stations including: Salisbury, Rocklea, Moorooka, Yeerongpilly, Yeronga, Fairfield, Dutton Park, and Exhibition.

The project is now fully under construction with Tunnel Boring Machines expected in the ground commencing tunnelling towards the end of this year.

4. Woolloongabba Station Precinct

The Woolloongabba Station Precinct is a large precinct masterplan thanks to the broader Cross River Rail project which involves the refurbishment of the Gabba stadium, new linkages and walkways to a mixed-use precinct which surrounds the new station.

5. Brisbane Metro

The Brisbane Metro was initially proposed by the Brisbane City Council as a subway line which would supersede the Northern and Southern Busways. Although retaining its original name, the project has since been updated to a turn-up-and-go high-frequency busway project which includes 60 new electric bi-articulated buses, upgraded Busway infrastructure and a new underground station at the Cultural Centre. Reported to be around $944 million, a new busway tunnel will also be dug underneath Adelaide Street connecting to the Central Busway near King George Square underground station.

The project was recently approved by the State Government to proceed with preliminary site works now occurring.

6. Victoria Park Vision

The Victoria Park Vision is a large parkland redevelopment project of the Victoria Park Golf Course. Planned by the Brisbane City Council, the project would be double the size of the City Botanical Gardens and feature suspended canopy walks, kayak and swimming lagoons, wetlands, a giant walk-through butterfly house, a food forest and produce garden, dog water parks, fountains, waterfalls and even an ‘adult playground’.

7. River Reach Masterplan

The River Reach Masterplan is a 1.2-kilometre waterfront promenade upgrade project along the CBD’s eastern waterfront. Proposed by the Brisbane City Council, the draft plan promotes more green space and trees, public art, decorative lighting, highlighting heritage features and increasing the width of the promenade. The plan also details space for a proposed public riverside lap pool, relocation of the current city cat terminal and integration with the proposed Kangaroo Point green bridge.

8. Brisbane Waterfront

In a similar location to the River Reach Masterplan, Dexus has unveiled plans for a $2.1 billion redevelopment of the 31-year-old Eagle Street Pier known as Brisbane Waterfront. The project is reported to provide around 7,900 square metres of open space, with around 3,900 square metres being around the Eagle Street Pier area.

9. Green Bridges

To the south of Brisbane Waterfront, the Brisbane City Council is proposing one of four new cross-river green bridges for Brisbane. The new CBD bridge would link Alice Street to Kangaroo Point and is currently in a business case phase.

10. New Brisbane Airport Runway

The new 3km $1.1 billion Brisbane Airport runway is scheduled to open in July this year after 8 years of construction. The project created 7,800 jobs and is expected to provide Brisbane with the best runway system in Australia.

11. Brisbane International Cruise Terminal

The Queensland Government-backed Port of Brisbane Cruise Ship Terminal project is currently nearing completion and is being built due to high demand for larger ‘mega-ships’. Currently, some of the larger ships owned by Royal Caribbean and Cunard cannot fit into Brisbane’s existing cruise ship terminal at Portside Wharf. The $158 million project is expected to be completed this year. The Brisbane International Cruise Terminal will have the capacity to cater to the world’s largest cruise ships.

12. Brisbane Quarter

Developed by Shayher Group, the three-tower project which takes up a CBD grid, includes the newly completed W Hotel and 300 George commercial office tower. The remaining tower ‘The One Residences’ is nearing completion. Currently, at level 64, the tower has 18 levels remaining until it tops out.

13. 443 Queen Street

Developed by Cbus Property, 443 Queen Street which is currently under construction is a significant 51 storey subtropical designed residential tower. Designed by Singapore’s WOHA Architects and Brisbane architecture firm Architectus, the project is set to become an Australian first for ‘breathable architecture’, designed specifically for the Brisbane climate.

14. West Village

Developed by Sekisui House, West Village is a large mixed-use urban renewal redevelopment located in Brisbane’s West End. With the first few residential stages now completed, along with an urban common, the significant retail portion of the development is now under construction.

15. New Performing Arts Venue (NPAV)

The Queensland Government-funded NPAV is a new $150 million world-class 1,500 seat theatre facility which is being built as part of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Once completed, QPAC will become the largest performing arts centre in Australia and is expected to deliver capacity for an extra 260 performances annually. The new theatre has started construction and is expected to be completed by 2022.