Kevin Seymour mothballs his Fortitude Valley, Brisbane residential project until next boom

The veteran Brisbane developer Kevin Seymour will mothball his $200 million Fortitude Valley apartment project until the next property cycle.

Demand in the city is no longer deep enough to warrant the development, Seymour told The Australian.

The Seymour Group would not proceed with the Arena nightclub redevelopment, but will hold the 312-apartment project until the market rebounded.

“I don’t think the demand is there without taking abnormal risk,” Mr Seymour said. “The heat has come out of the market.”

The market was in a “slight downturn” with Mr Seymour saying his approach was to develop in a rising market.

“It’s a fantastic site and we will leave it to the next cycle when we can get a premium for the apartments that we cannot get in the present cycle,” he said.

Brisbane has seen a wave of apartment projects with Seymour Group continuing with its prestige 30-apartment project at inner-city New Farm.