Known as Ferny Grove Central, a large new transit orientated development project has been proposed for a site directly surrounding Ferny Grove Station in Brisbane’s North-West.
Proposed by Queensland-based developer Honeycombes Property Group, the development will include a variety of uses including additional park and ride facilities, retail and residential apartments.
Project Rundown:
Car parking
There are currently 973 commuter car parks on the subject site, and as part of the development, it is proposed to be increased to 1,732. This results in an additional 759 car parking spaces for commuters, plus 469 spaces for the proposed retail and residential components.
Variety of uses
Including shops, office, food and drink outlets, child care centre, medical services, gym, cinema and residential units. Potential tenants include Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s and Majestic Cinemas.
The vision is to create a local ‘neighbourhood village’. It is envisioned that the proposed
development will provide a full-line supermarket, cinema complex, child care facility,
combined medical practitioners, service provides and food and drink operators.
Building Height
By definition, the proposed development consists of three (3) buildings which vary from three (3) to six (6) storeys in height; however, visually, the buildings appear from the street as three (3) to five (4) storeys.
Residential units
Approximately 13,600m of retail floor space, 64 residential units ranging from one (1) bedroom to three (3) bedrooms, and approximately 140m2 of retail on the ground floor of the residential building.
The residential building also features a rooftop recreation deck accommodating a pool and bbq area.
Connectivity
Creating a pedestrian-friendly environment through improved pedestrian pathways and
connections. The development provides a seamless transition from the Ferny Grove Station
and Bus Interchange to the Retail and Residential precincts
Increased Local Amenity
Ferny Grove Central is set to transform the current bitumen car park at the ‘end of the line’ (Commuter car park precinct) into a suburban destination. The improved amenity for commuters and the wider Ferny Grove community will include new transport facilities with majority of this being undercover, retail offering to focus on flexibility, community services and entertainment, landscaped pedestrian plazas and air-conditioned retail plaza. Furthermore, the proposal provides improved vehicle and pedestrian connections, and a safe meeting place for members of the community.
Public Plaza and Pedestrian Spine
The proposed development incorporates a public plaza which aims to provide the community with a central place to meet and get-together.
Anchored in dining, retail, commercial and leisure uses the proposed development provides a compact and diverse centre point for the community. The proposed development enhances the overall civic presence of Ferny Grove, providing a walkable, open-air, multi-use development with an invigorated public realm.
The large 3.5 hectare site is predominantly occupied b the Ferny Grove Station and Bus Interchange.
According to the development application, the design provides a diverse and high-quality best practice example of a functioning TOD.
The subject site is the end of the Ferny Grove line and thus performs a much larger role than other stations along the line, with the station serving as a community node and focal point for not just the Ferny Grove suburb but the Council areas including the growing Upper Kedron precinct, as well as serving as a key node for the adjoining Samford Valley areas with this being a key gateway precinct between the valley and Greater Brisbane.
Design Statement
The objective of the Masterplan is to reinforce the dominant role of public transport within
the site via a series of devices that amplify the station as the pivotal element in the precinct.
Each of the uses is arranged to maximise accessibility and legibility and to create public spaces that encourage surveillance and enhance the public realm. Visibility through the site and towards the station is retained, and building forms are orientated to define the streets and their edges as well as maximise aspect.
The key focuses of the scheme are to:
- Provide safe and easily accessed commuter parking spaces
- Reinforce the station as the core of the precinct
- Establish a new retail high street to promote the public nature of the site
- Create a public boulevard which integrates remote parking areas
- Provide commuters with convenience retail and desirable food and beverage offerings
- Provide local commercial (medical centre and gymnasium) activities
- Maximise the retention of current infrastructure
- Create a truly liveable residential precinct
- Provide a sustainable project valued by its community
The development application number for this project is A005002931.
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Why do so many of these TOD developments provide so many car parks on site? Surely many of them are unnecessary?
The whole point of these outer suburb TOD’s are to enable people to drive to the station to then bus/train into the city and reduce the amount of cars going into the city. If you don’t provide enough car parks at these sites then no one will bother going here for a train and just drive straight into the city, making the whole thing pointless.
Unfortunate this has proven to be incorrect This site should have very little parking and a far greater mix of uses
https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2013-03-20/how-park-and-ride-encourages-car-use
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X16307533
I think this development would be very welcome and will enhance the area. With regards to parking, I feel that it is necessary to ensure adequate spaces, within the development itself, to avoid the current situation of parking around nearby streets, which looks untidy, creates congestion and causes frustration for local residents.
This will be a great enhancement in livability to the nearby suburbs. Bigger would have been better but current proposal is a reasonable compromise between those that want more locally (jobs, shops, cinema, etc) and those NIMBY’s that don’t.
Having all this connected to existing transport infrastructure with increased accommodation is just good efficient planning that avoids urban sprawl and our spending $ locally will help give jobs to local kids.
One of the biggest problems with outer ring stations is the lack of parking, hence it makes commuters drive closer to the city until they find a station with available parking spaces. Parking at a station and catching a train can out weigh the cost of city parking.
More multi-level parking facilities should be considered at future stations, particularly at key locations like Northgate, and strathpine. Petrie, springfield, and albion are some of the only stations with multi level parking.
I’m very excited to see this project finally in hands of the council. Great way of increasing the areas profile and also increasing the liveability of the area. People will be more incline to stay in the area and spend locally. The fact that the project is a TOD driven project makes it more likely to be approved as it will contribute the improvement of the lifestyle of many workers that work in the city.
How can I get an update of where the proposal is at?
Years and years ago, I watched a town planner that was so excited about the fact that the internet would reduce or even eliminate the need for skyscrapers and the abandon the whole concept and requirement of a city center. His vision would be mini or satellite centers throughout the city area; a bit like shopping centers are now. I guess, in Brisbane at least, there are tax offices both for north and south. However, apart from the shopping center spread, I have not seen this happen as far as everyone needing to work in the city, along with the associated traffic snarls, air pollution, power consumption. My question, why not? What is the key driving force behind the need to have a “city”? Internet is more widely available than ever, speed is greater than ever, video conferencing should be a daily event, fax is so 1990’s but still we have skyscrapers? Digital signatures are recognized, legal and accepted by banks. What else is there?