Brisbane's 'triplets' to get laneway makeover
The Queensland Investment Corporation will develop a new 39-level office tower and connect three neighbouring ones with a new laneway as it seeks to rejuvenate the western end of Brisbane’s CBD with a $430 million project.
State-owned QIC lodged plans with the Brisbane City Council last week for a new pedestrian boulevard to connect the towers at 33 Charlotte Street, 54 Mary Street and 111 George Street – known as the ”triplets” – and build a new tower with 35,000 square metres of net lettable area on an adjacent site at 62 Mary Street.
It’s a large addition. The new tower will be taller than the current largest one – the 30-level 111 George Street – and will increase the gross floor area of buildings on the combined site of the 9000-square-metre precinct by 53 per cent to 121,500 square metres.
The development aims to tap the growing market for office space in a corner of the Queensland capital that is already getting a development boost from nearby projects such as the planned $3 billion Queens Wharf precinct and Brisbane Quarter.
“In this part of town there hasn’t been much activity for a long time, apart from [the $650-million Cbus Property-developed] 1 William Street,” said architect Terry McQuillan, a director of Bureau Proberts, which designed the project along in collaboration with Architectus. “It’s a little overdue for rejuvenation.”
The redevelopment that includes a 90-metre-long retail laneway linking Mary and Charlotte streets will open up the ground plane by hollowing out 750 square metres of existing podium space.
“It’s quite a rare thing in any city to get four buildings, or three buildings and another parcel of land connected in the city,” Mr McQuillan said. “That part of town is going to change a lot over the next five to 10 years.”
Planning processes will take at least six months and construction will take two years, suggesting a completion in 2021. QIC is currently in the market for tenants for the tower.
“The proposed development at 62 Mary Street offers maximum exposure within a strategic location that is set to become a pivotal connection between the Queens Wharf entertainment precinct, the proposed Albert Street Green Spine and Eagle Street dining zone,” QIC Real Estate managing director Steve Leigh said.
“The ground plane redevelopment within the precinct focuses on creating a strong pedestrian link and interconnected retail and social gathering spaces that enable the formation of a new mixed-use neighbourhood within the CBD.”
The project would add to the slew of developments under way that would expand Brisbane’s business heart beyond the CBD’s traditional Golden Triangle bounded by Eagle and Queen streets, said Bureau Proberts creative director Liam Proberts.
“By creating these big links it helps connect this part of the city with the George Street spine,” Mr Proberts said. “It also allows it to connect through the Albert Street boulevard. Those connections are really important.”
