Crown Group acquires development site in Brisbane's West End for $34 million
Crown Group has acquired one of the last big development sites in Brisbane’s inner south for $35 million.
The 1.25-hectare property at 117 Victoria Street, West End, is the former home of Computershare, which occupied the site’s 5100-square-metre office and warehouse buildings.
The deal is the largest development site sale in Brisbane’s city fringe market this year, according to selling agents Cushman and Wakefield.
The proposed development will have nearly 450 apartments. Image: FJMT
Crown submitted a development application for the site overlooking Brisbane River in December 2017, before they had settled on the property. The application was for a 12-storey project comprising 446 apartments, retail space in the building’s two-storey podium, 530 car parking spaces and adjacent recreational areas. The property has now settled.
The development’s end value is expected to be $350 million.
The proposal was met with strong backlash from locals and was one of the main issues that led about 100 protesters to shut down West End’s Vulture Street and Montague Road intersection in March.
The application is still being reviewed by Brisbane City Council, which has extended the decision period until early October.
The development will be worth $350 million when completed. Image: FJMT
The property was owned by QM Technologies founders Frank Smyth Youngleson and Neville Morgan, who paid $4.7 million for it in 1999.
Iwan Sunito, Crown Group chairman and chief executive officer, told Commercial Real Estate that the company was “sure of our decision and confident in the location”, prompting them to lodge a DA before settlement.
“After we exchanged contracts with the previous owner, we wanted to get the ball rolling on the development process, even though settlement would come later,” he said.
“We are excited to be undertaking our first project in Brisbane, an innovative new development which we hope will set a new benchmark for the area.”
The site is occupied by a an office and warehouse. Photo: Supplied
Mr Sunito acknowledged that the company had “seen a slowdown in new supply into the Brisbane market”.
“We believe there is strong demand for well-designed luxury apartments in Brisbane. There is a gap in the market for this type of product,” he said, adding that they were seeing more local buyers.
“Buyers come to us who want to buy from developers with a good track record in Australia.”
Cushman and Wakefield selling agents Nick Spiro and Andrew Gard received more than 200 inquiries from domestic and offshore developers.
Mr Gard said the scale of the site had deterred many smaller, local developers.
“The buyer profile for larger sites in Brisbane is changing. The last three sites over one hectare in West End have sold to Crown, R&F and Sekisui House who are all national or offshore developers.
“West End is evolving from an inner-city industrial area to a vibrant mixed-use lifestyle precinct. Construction activity relating to the injection of new retail is particularly exciting, and needed to support the increased population in the area.”
Mr Spiro admitted that the West End development market has faced “substantial swings in sentiment”.
“However, Crown’s purchase of 117 Victoria Street – its first in the Brisbane market – and a continued uplift in deal activity, is a sign that the development market has passed its low point and is well-positioned for future growth,” he said.
