The developer of the world's tallest residential tower Q1 on the Gold Coast has unveiled plans to build a $250-million luxury apartment tower in Brisbane's CBD. Sunland Group has lodged its proposal for the 44-storey Carrington Tower opposite the Botanical Gardens at 140 Alice Street, after acquiring a small slice of neighbouring land that currently houses a small apartment building.
The tower - said to be encased with a pewter glass wall with a subtle gold tint - will be built on the site of Devine's former French Quarter which was flattened by the global financial crisis in 2008.
Carrington Tower will be Sunland's first foray in the Queensland residential market since the completion of Q1 and Circle on Cavill at Surfers Paradise almost five years ago. Sunland Group managing director Sahba Abedian has hailed the design by Wood/Marsh as the developer's finest piece of architecture to be produced in the company's 27 years.
The facade of Carrington Tower will flow down to create a canopy over the lobby.
"We will be looking to create a very sculptural, iconographic tower that will really mark the entry into Brisbane from the southside of the city.
"It's a curvilinear building that really personifies the feminine form. If you look at the building it actually drapes out at the base that is not dissimilar to a beautiful dress - that's really the intent behind the tower."
Mr Abedian said he was confident Brisbane City Council would approve the tower by mid-2011, as it could potentially have an unprecedented amount of innovative sustainable design features, including solar panels incorporated into the louvres and blinds to capture and reuse energy.
"As we know the Baby Boomers are moving into retirement and lifestyle choices are changing ... and we hope to cater for these individuals," Mr Abedian said.
If approved by the council, Carrington Tower will be one of only a few buildings in Brisbane, including Riparian and The Grosvenor, designed for owner-occupiers. Mr Abedian said Carrington Tower would boast of the facilities of a hotel, including a 24-hour concierge.
"We believe there is strong demand for these environments," he said.
One-bedroom apartments with a study are expected to sell for about $500,000 and sub-penthouses $3 million.
Although Harry Triguboff's twin-tower residential development on Herschell and Adelaide streets is near completion and the abandoned Vision tower site on Mary Street may also be resurrected by developers Billbergia, Mr Abedian said he was confident there was room in the Brisbane market for Carrington Tower.
"We have a strong track record and we also have a very strong client base that I have no doubt will be very excited when we launch this project," Mr Abedian said.
"The testament of our capabilities is the proof of our projects through from Q1 to Circle on Cavill and Palazzo Versace."
Company managing director Sahba Abedian said the tower would feature 200 luxury apartments, including two and three bedrooms and sub-penthouses, aimed for the baby-boomer market.
Current off-the-plan buildings being marketed and under construction
Devine is not proceeding with its French Quarter hotel and apartment project in Alice Street. The site was listed for sale in yesterday's AFR.
As mentioned in a prior post, Devine is selling the French Quarter site.
Here are the sale details: http://www.frenchquarterbrisbane.com.au/
"The French Quarter vision has been shaped by Devine Limited after extensive research, planning and design. The French Quarter includes an agreement with IHG for an InterContinental* Hotel which will complement the development. The marketing and sales success of the apartments at French Quarter is predicated on five key success drivers:
Alice Street is Brisbane’s equivalent of Macquarie Street in Sydney and Clarendon Street in Melbourne. Alice Street has long been recognised as Brisbane’s best apartment address with the presence of The Parliament of Queensland, The Queensland Club, Quay West and The Grosvenor. Buildings on Alice Street overlook the city’s Botanical Gardens and the Brisbane River with high level views as far as the Border Ranges, Moreton Bay and the Glasshouse Mountains.
Albert Street is the principal pedestrian link between the gardens and the Queen Street Mall. This active pedestrian friendly street is well patronised for its many cafés and retail shops."
See also The Australian
Also, Story in the Courier Mail:
Twin tower plans for Brisbane axed by Devine
Michelle Hele | September 17, 2009 12:00am | CM
ANOTHER residential tower project has fallen over in the Brisbane CBD, with Devine pulling out of its $1 billion French Quarter development. An international competition was held to pick its designer and it was to house the most expensive apartments in Brisbane – up to $15 million.
Devine spent years buying up individual apartments in buildings which are currently on the land so it could control the site on the corner of Albert, Alice and Margaret streets. Stage one was to feature a tower with a luxury six-star hotel, with apartments on top, retail and commercial space on the lower levels and Parisian-style cafes and walkways.
But with Devine appointing agents to sell the property it seems unlikely it will ever be delivered.
Meanwhile, Austcorp's Vision Tower is still in limbo with no work carried out for months and some of the group's companies in the hands of voluntary administrators.
Work is also delayed on Trilogy Tower, an $800 million project on the site of the former Red Cross Blood Bank, and Metacap scrapped plans for its $500 million Empire Square tower on Elizabeth St.
Geoff McIntyre of Jones Lang LaSalle and Rick Bird of Ray White Transact have been appointed to sell the French Quarter site and will market the property internationally. Mr McIntyre said it was a one-in-a-million site. Mr Bird spent months negotiating the individual purchase of units in the apartment blocks. The agents said the plan was to sell the property to another party which would go ahead with the project.
Devine managing director David Devine said he was disappointed but after a review of operations the company realised house and land packages were providing a better short-term return at lower risk. The group was also reviewing its land holdings in Queensland and would sell some soon.
Mr Devine said the focus now would be on buying more land in Victoria so the group could turn it into profits quickly.
"You can't do everything that you want to do," he said. "It is disappointing but the fact is that our business is exceptionally good on the house and land front where demand is high and supply is low. We have too much land in some areas in Queensland and we are looking at selling that."
Mr Devine said good sites such as the French Quarter site would sell in any market. Offers to purchase French Quarter close on November 12. Mr McIntyre said in a good market the site could make up to $90 million. Mr Bird said with all the work that had gone into planning, a developer would have a significant head start on the project.
There is likely to be a shortage of apartments in Brisbane in the near future. (This statement assumes that that is not massive unemployment in Brisbane.) There are few developments under construction, and so very little new stock will come onto the market in the next three years. What new stock remains unsold is either overpriced or poor quality.
Downtown Apartments
"Devine believes the fundamentals for the housing market in Australia remain sound with a significant and growing undersupply of housing which is evidenced by historically low vacancy rates and rising rents."
French Quarter precinct (Brisbane): Expected commencement: June Qtr. 2009, Hotel/Residential/Retail, Estimated Gross Realisation: $1,200M
Hamilton Harbour (Brisbane ) Expected commencement: Dec. Qtr 2008 / Early 2009, Commercial/Residential/Retaill, Estimated Gross Realisation: $400M
See http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/Devine/article.asp?id=4202568
Following ongoing consultation with the Brisbane City Council and the newly established body, the Urban Land Development Authority, which has been formed by the government to oversee the future development of the “North Shore” precinct at Hamilton, progress is being made to secure a development approval on the Devine/Leighton Properties JV’s Hamilton Harbour project. This is situated adjacent to Brisbane’s new cruise ship terminal at Hamilton, an inner suburb of Brisbane. A $400M mixed-use development is planned for the site.
As announced progressively over the last year, Devine has secured a total of six sites that will comprise a precinct to be known as, “The French Quarter”. A multi-staged development including a six star boutique hotel, up-market residential unit developments, an office building and retail space is planned for this prime site. It is located opposite Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens on the corners of Alice, Albert and Margaret Streets in the Brisbane CBD. Following an international architectural competition, a London based architectural firm (Atkins) who were the architects for the world renowned Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, were selected for the $1.2B project. They will be working in conjunction with ML Design, a Brisbane based architectural firm. It is intended that a JV be entered into with a third party to develop the site. Work is now progressing to secure a development approval for the staged project to be developed over several years.
99 Mary Street in the Brisbane CBD – A number of options for this site are currently being considered which include possible strata titled office building and a hotel development. Discussions with a particular party in relation to the latter option are currently progressing.
http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/Devine/article.asp?id=4202565
“There is a significant and growing undersupply of housing in Australia which is evidenced by historically-low vacancy rates and rising rents,” Mr Devine said. “Based on this fact and indications that interest rates in Australia might start to trend down in the near future, we expect a recovery of the housing sector although uncertainty remains as to the timing.”
http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/Devine/article.asp?id=4202567Mirvac built (and continues to manage) the Quay West apartment building in Brisbane's Alice Street, overlooking the botanical gardens. Large one and two bedroom apartments on the lower levels, with penthouse apartments on the top 5 levels. One of the residents is a senior person from Devine, who is constructing the French Quarter development next door. The French Quarter development will move the prices of Quay West even higher.
One bedroom on level 9, listed at $525,000Devine's French Quarter project will place shadows over the Botanical Gardens. This is a concern.
This is what the Courier Mail says:
DEVELOPERS building high-rises over Brisbane's Botanic Gardens will no longer have to worry about casting a shadow under new city council laws.
Devine's $1 billion French Quarter precinct, fronting Alice, Margaret and Albert streets, which proposes two towers overshadowing the gardens, will be one of the first beneficiaries of Brisbane City Council's City Centre neighbourhood plan, whereby developers don't have to lodge shadow reports.
While the precinct's design is not yet complete, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said he would still seek more details about the shadow impact.
"In relation to the Devine proposal, that will be an issue I'll certainly be asking (about)," Cr Newman said.
"With the Vision tower, there was a bit of a shadow issue - it was a small one - and we had to weigh up the positive nature of the development."
Cr Newman said the shadow impact of French Quarter would be put into perspective.
"That doesn't mean if there's a shadow, it won't get up," he said.
Labor, which comprised the majority of the council when the decision was made, said it was complying with the wishes of the Liberal Lord Mayor.
"This was the Lord Mayor's wish - this was ultimately a decision of his," Opposition Planning spokesman Milton Dick said. "At the time, the argument was there was significant shading already in the Botanic Gardens."
Neighbourhood Planning chairwoman Amanda Cooper said the City Centre plan had been through the council twice and was in the process of being implemented.
"It was felt that there was no longer any shadowing that could impact on the Botanic Gardens because of the buildings that actually existed," she said.
From today's Courier Mail
THE designer behind the famous sail-shaped Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai has won an international competition to design Devine's $1 billion French Quarter precinct in Brisbane.
The design of two towers by Tom Wright of Atkins has been selected from a field of five international architectural firms which were vying for the honour.
Atkins is also the group behind the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Dubai.
Devine managing director David Devine said yesterday now that the concept for the building had been selected planning work would start with an eye to lodging a development application in the next couple of months.
The towers will form the centrepiece of Devine's $1 billion French Quarter, a 6-star hotel and residential development.
It is to built on sites fronting Albert, Margaret and Alice streets which Devine amalgamated throughout last year. Once complete it will feature two towers housing a 6-star hotel, residential apartments, retail and commercial space.
This will all be linked by a Parisian-style cafe and walkway.
Apartments in the development will be priced from $1.5 million. Prices will reach $15 million – the most expensive apartments ever to be marketed in Brisbane.
"This project will be a true coming of age for Brisbane," Mr Devine said.
Expressions of interest for an international operator to run the hotel component of the development is down to a short list with the successful operator expected to be announced soon.
Mr Devine said none of those on the shortlist were currently operating in Brisbane.
It is also the first project by Atkins in Australia.
Mr Wright said he hoped to bring a new level of luxury and sophistication to the Brisbane skyline with the design.
Mr Wright and his team will now be commissioned to work with Devine's local design firm ML Design to develop the final plans before a development application is lodged.
It is hoped construction will start in 2009 and be finished in 2012.
From the Devine website, which shows that three towers are planned:
"Devine Limited has recently obtained control of a 7,252sqm parcel of land in the Brisbane CBD directly opposite the Botanic Gardens."
"A circa 54 storey high-rise development incorporating a 120 - 150 room 6 star boutique hotel approximately with circa 70 first class residential units ranging in size from 250 - 800sqm gross and valued at between $3 million to $15 million each. The development is located on the corner of Alice and Albert Streets opposite the Brisbane Botanical Gardens.
Posts
All Comments
