South Brisbane's apartment explosion comes with urban renewal

South Brisbane's apartment explosion comes with urban renewal
Alistair WalshDecember 7, 2020

Apartment building approvals in South Brisbane increased three-fold over the past year as it pushed ahead as the fastest growing suburbs in Brisbane following intense urban renewal investment.

Residential building approvals increased from 151 in 2010/11 financial year to 744 in 2012/13,1 according to research firm Urbis.

Its projected growth rate is 5.6% with almost 10,000 people predicted to move in by 2031.

The suburb has been the site of massive public spending with $4.1 billion of infrastructure spending over the past years, including the Southbank Activity Precinct, the Queensland Cultural Centre, the Southbank Institute of Technology, the Queensland Children’s Hospital, the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and an expanding Business and Office Precinct.

There is another $1.2 billion planned for the near future.

Urbis says loose planning controls have contributed to the explosion in apartment building.

“The Brisbane City Council recognised the area’s unique attributes and introduced a Neighbourhood Plan in 2011 that loosened the previously restrictive planning controls and in doing so gave industry what it requires for major investment decisions – an increased yield potential and certainty through code assessable development that is quarantined from competitor or public appeals,” Urbis director Stephen Buhmann writes.

He says the population growth forecasts suggest the building boom will continue in the 2020s.

“This implies that the recent burst in approvals is not just a one-off.  Rather, it is the start of a continuing phase of development that is expected to run for well over a decade.”

Aria Property Group is one of the developers taking advantage of the building explosion with the June completion of its Russell apartment building which just achieved full rental occupancy.

The 56-unit development sold mostly to local investors and local owner-occupiers, three weeks after coming to market.

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The Rothelowman White designed building won the Urban Development Institute of Australia Queensland’s 2013 prize in the urban renewal category.

“Urban renewal is important because it reduces the need for urban sprawl and cleans up parts of the city which have previously been used for industrial and commercial activities,” says Aria’s Michael Hurley.

“It is vital that these projects are designed to be complimentary to surrounding environments, to be consistent with existing infrastructure and to still be relevant in 10 or 15 years time.”

“When we started on Vine, South Brisbane had not seen any significant residential development from 2008 to 2012. There had been 10,000 office workers that moved into South Brisbane during that five year period.

“And with little or no residential units having been delivered in that same time period, an undersupply of housing occurred. Vacancy rates were the lowest in Brisbane at 1.4%, which was driving rental yields up. Well located, quality residential units have been long overdue in the market.”

awalsh@propertyobserver.com.au

Alistair Walsh

Deutsche Welle online reporter

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