Brisbane's South City Square changes composition

Brisbane's South City Square changes composition
Mark BaljakJune 14, 2018

Project partners Pellicano Group and Perri Projects have taken their massive South City Square project back to planning in order to rework future stages of the development.

The project is very much representative of the boom in development that has been seen across Woolloongabba, although the bulk of South City Square has yet to be built. Earlier this month planning documents were lodged, seeking to alter the composition of future stages of the project which in time willencompasses more than two hectares.

Primarily fronting Logan Road, the applied for changes changes are relevant to the southern portion of the site and look to supersede planning approval granted during late 2016.

Initial buildings on the Logan Road and Deshon Street intersection were completed during 2017.

Brisbane's South City Square changes composition
South City Square as of late 2017. Image: Aussie Bhoy / Skyscrapercity

Changes sought within the new application include:

  • Adding a new parcel of land at 178 Logan Road and removing 31 Sword Street
  • Changing the staging for the development proposal
  • Delivering a supermarket and central square as a stand alone stage (owing to Woolworths signing on)
  • A change in design for what will be known as Building 6
  • Building 4 will be split to create two separate buildings known as Building 4 and Building 5 (18 and 15 levels)
  • Inclusion of retirement living 
  • Additional parking

Overall seven separate developable buildings between 4 and 18 levels are in the wings, although Stage 3/Supermarket is noted as being at construction.

In line with a swag of applications that have targeted retirement living across Brisbane in recent times, South City Square aims to follow suit. Planning consultant Urbis noted "A vertical Retirement Facility is also proposed to be introduced into the development to meet Brisbane’s growing demand for retirement facilities and enhance the diversity and mix of uses included in South City Square.

The introduction of this use has tangible benefits to the broader community who may be looking for retirement options in Woolloongabba."

Brisbane's South City Square changes composition
The development as envisaged upon completion. Planning image: DBI

To this point the sprawling $600 million mixed-use project has held a nominated completion date of 2023. The initial plan consisted of six residential buildings and one hotel in addition to the major retail, dining and entertainment aspects at ground level.

It's likely that Brisbane's soft apartment market has in part contributed to the rebalancing of the project's uses. 

Mark Baljak

Mark Baljak was a co-founder of Urban.com.au. He passed away on Thursday 8th of November 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was 37. Mark was a keen traveller, having visited all six permanently-inhabited continents and had a love of craft beer. One of his biggest passions was observing the change that has occurred in Melbourne over the past two decades. In that time he built an enormous library of photos, all taken by him, which tracked the progress of construction on building sites from across metropolitan Melbourne.

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