As reported by brisbanedevelopment.com this week, the new runway at Brisbane Airport is on target to open in 2020, with the Airfield Works contract awarded to a joint venture between CPB Contractors Pty Limited and BMD Construction Pty Ltd, known as Skyway.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director, Julieanne Alroe, explained the project has been in the pipeline since the 1970’s, and is the “final and most expensive package of works to bring Brisbane’s new runway to life.”

The new runway is the biggest infrastructure investment by the BAC since the privatisation of the airport in 1997 with a total cost of $1.2 to $1.3 billion. Ms Alroe put this cost into perspective, with the entire airport purchased for $1.38 billion nearly 20 years ago.

This project is the largest aviation infrastructure development currently in operation in Australia. It includes over 12km of taxiway, a runway of 60m wide x 3,300m long and associated infrastructure. 

As the airport is privately owned, none of the $3.4 billion that has been contributed over the past 20 years to infrastructure upgrades aimed at increasing capacity and improving the passenger travel experience, has come from the government.

A direct benefit of the project is the job creation, with up to 90 per cent of peak labour and plant resources to be sourced locally from South East Queensland which will include; 60 managerial, engineering and supervisory staff, 60 trade level wages employees/ subcontractors, 150 plant operators, and 130 skilled labourers.

The BAC predicts the flights will grow from 227,000 in 2014/2015 to over 360,000 by 2035, and the estimated the national tourism contribution will grow from $3.1 billion to the 2013 financial year to $7.6 billion by 2033-34.

The full article is available at the link below.

 https://brisbanedevelopment.com/brisbanes-new-runway-enters-final-construction-phase-award-airfield-contract/ 

After the controversy that marred the 2016 Census collection process, the results are in.

As reported by domain.com.au, the building boom in the apartment market was reflected in the data; with those calling a unit or apartment home increasing by nearly three per cent, and the number of people living in houses declining by around the same amount between the 2011 and 2016 Census periods. The data states that 20 per cent of the greater Brisbane population now call an apartment home.  Not surprisingly the data showed that flat or apartment living in the Brisbane inner city region was the most popular, with over 48,800 residents or 50.4% of those surveyed occupying this type of dwelling. 

Since 2011, the Brisbane local government area has observed a drop in the households that have a mortgage from 36.8 per cent down to 35.7 per cent. The stress of these mortgages on household income in the Brisbane local government area has shown a good result; as in 2011, 8.7 per cent of residents contributed more than 30 per cent of their household income towards mortgage repayments, compared to the 2016 figure that shows this dropped to 5.8 per cent. More specifically, the figure for Brisbane inner city residents is only 4.3% of residents for the most recent Census period.

The article states this is due to the drop in the medium monthly mortgage repayments which fell from $2,100 to $2000 over the course of five years (greater Brisbane). This repayment drop can be linked to the interest rate cuts from 4.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent between Census periods.  

With regards to the rental market, the data shows that 33 per cent were tenants in 2011, compared to 34.5 per cent in 2016. The Brisbane inner city region data shows that renting is higher than the Brisbane greater region figure, with nearly 50 per cent of households renting.

With regards to population, 34.1 per cent of the Brisbane inner city is made up of 20-34 year olds.

Summary of Brisbane Inner City 2016 results

Sydney or Brisbane? A timely discussion with State of Origin this week.  

The REIQ March Queensland Market Monitor report shows inter-state migration out of Sydney and into Brisbane and other areas is on the rise, with one of the contributing factors being price. Brisbane is seemingly benefiting from the current state of unaffordable housing in Sydney. The report shows the median house price in Brisbane was again considerably lower than Sydney ($900,000 in Sydney compared to $514,000 in Brisbane). Other capital cities ranked as follows; Melbourne ($650,000), Canberra ($635,000), Darwin ($530,000), Perth ($506,000), Adelaide ($450,000), and Greater Hobart ($381,000).

The figures in the report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for 2015-2016 show that Brisbane had the highest net internal migration gain of all the greater capital cities (10,100 people); this is the highest it has been in at least ten years. Ahead of Melbourne (8,300), and Hobart (400). Sydney had the highest net loss of all Greater Capital Cities in the same periods (-23,200), followed by Adelaide (-3,300), Darwin (-1,200), and the Australian Capital Territory (-180).

Earlier this week, The Australian reported Brisbane was the more affordable then Sydney or Melbourne when it comes to percentage of household income to service a mortgage; with 45% for Sydney, 39.4% in Melbourne, and 31.8% in Brisbane. 

Whether you support the Blues or Maroons, Brisbane is showing consistent housing affordability which will continue to drive investment with lower buy-in prices, and value for money for home owners; giving the Brisbane property market more momentum in months and years to come.

The prospect of drawing internationally renowned destination artworks to the city is yet another impressive facet of the Queens Wharf development, as reported on brisbanedevelopment.com this week.

Of the estimated $3 billion project cost for the development, approximately $7.5 million would be contributed to the artwork if classified under the Brisbane City Council’s 1995 Public Art Policy, which specifies developments over $5 million must contribute 0.25% of total cost to fund artworks.

However, in regards to this development, the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane Integrated Resort Development (QWBIRD) has its own planning scheme, with similar contributions for artwork are likley to be adhered to. 

Whether you love art or not, these concepts will surely have something for everyone. 

The exciting concept will be grouped into four categories; ‘Destination Artwork’, ‘Precinct Markers’, ‘Discovery Artwork’, and ‘Functional Artwork.’ An extraordinary notion to draw artists and collaborators from Australia and the international art world. There are a number of proposed artworks with excellent concept drawings available for viewing.  These are definitely worth a look, even for those not completely immersed in the art world. These can be viewed (and voted on) on the brisbanedevelopment.com website link below.  

The original article can be read at  https://brisbanedevelopment.com/queens-wharf-set-to-host-a-wonderland-of-public-art/.

For those interested in what Brisbane current has to offer, the Brisbane City Council has ‘Public Art Trail’ guide and map on their website.  

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/Contemporary_Art_and_Architecture_Public_Art_Trail.pdf 

When you are talking about a potential $2 billion project in the centre of Brisbane, its hard not get excited about the future of our great city. The ‘Brisbane Live’ entertainment precinct is about to progress to stage two of the Queensland Government’s market-led proposals initiative, as reported on the brisbanedevelopment.com on 21 May 2017. Story below. 

"The $2 billion Brisbane Live entertainment precinct located in the heart of the CBD is about to progress to stage two of the Queensland Government’s market-led proposals initiative.

For over 12 months the government has been reviewing the plan and is anticipated to provide constructive feedback which will push the project into a fine tuning and due diligence phase.

Harvey Lister, chairman of Brisbane-based AEG Ogden, a subsidiary of global entertainment venue operator AEG, told the Courier Mail they are optimistic that Brisbane Live is now receiving the focus it needs with the State Government to enable it to happen.

In preparation of the next stage, AEG Ogden has already prepared a detailed 150-page financial brief and appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to explore opportunities and ways to attract private investment into the project which would see the development of apartments, hotels, retail, commercial space as well as possibly cultural, education and research facilities based around the new 17,000 seat Brisbane Arena.

“The redevelopment concept for the whole of the Roma Street site is a truly unique one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we believe its time has come,” he said.

“Very few cities globally have the opportunity to create a commercial, educational, leisure and entertainment precinct in a world-class garden setting on a 20-plus hectare site right in the middle of the city,’’ Mr Lister said.

The proposal is mirrored off LA Live, located at South Park, a district South West of downtown Los Angeles. Situated at the centre of LA Live is the 20,000 seat Staples Center which hosts basketball, ice hockey, boxing and wrestling as well as music concerts and theatres.

Since its inception in 2009, the 10.9 hectare LA Live precinct has spurred on incredible growth and gentrification of the surrounding area, developing new hotels and residences like the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott. The precinct is serviced predominantly by a light rail line.

Comparatively, Brisbane Live as it stands is larger by area (around 20 hectares) and is located on top of Queensland’s largest rail interchange hub. The positioning above Roma Street station gives the added advantage of catering not just to Brisbane audiences but to the whole of South East Queensland, a population catchment of well over 3.4 million (2014 figures). Like Staples Center, the Brisbane Arena could accommodate international concert tours, theatres like Wicked or The Wizard of Oz as well as potentially being the new home of the Brisbane International’s tennis finals. Harvey Lister said the ability for the Brisbane Live project to activate the night-life economy of the CBD to support the new Queens Wharf development is a compelling factor.

AEG Ogden are reportedly moving quickly with the proposal, with hopes of getting final approval within one year and built by 2021-2022 to coincide with the completion of Brisbane’s other major development, the $3 billion Queens Wharf Integrated Resort.

Tim Nicholls, state opposition leader told the Courier Mail the project was a ‘game-changer’ and was behind the Brisbane Live project, so much so that if elected, he would overhaul the market-led proposals process to speed up approvals.

He said it was “staggering” it had taken a year to get to this point and slammed the Palaszczuk Government’s record on MLPs. “In two years, just one of more than 100 proposals has been approved.”

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said he wants to see Brisbane Live progress to help boost tourism along with Queens Wharf, Brisbane Airport’s new parallel runway, new cruise ship terminal and the planned metro rapid bi-articulated bus system.

Cross River Rail Integration

Whilst the painfully decade-long squabble over Cross River Rail funding continues, there is one positive side effect of government inaction. The potential for pure integration of Cross River Rail with Brisbane Live.

Both projects could be seamlessly integrated with one another creating a super-transit hub beneath the surface of Brisbane Live and sparing Brisbane residents with additional years of construction headaches. Cross River Rail already promises to turn the immediate area into a “vibrant precinct” with a new plaza and retail offerings.

AEG Ogden meet with the Queensland Government this week to discuss progressing the project to the next phase."

Above story published on 21 May 2017 - https://brisbanedevelopment.com/brisbane-live-proposal-to-advance-to-next-stage/