By 2020, The Brisbane Transit Centre and Hotel Jen are set for demolishment in order to make space for the Cross River Rail’s new underground Roma Street Station and Brisbane Live development, reports brisbanedevelopment.com.

The complex has the reputation as one of the city’s ugliest building clusters and many will be happy to see it go. Deputy Premier & Treasurer Jackie Trad said the building is well past its prime and its removal is required, as by 2025, that area of the city will be completely transformed.

The $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project will vastly improve the western gateway to the City commute, and will include the proposed Brisbane Live project.

“Roma Street Station is a key link between the city centre, Roma Street Parklands, Spring Hill’s schools, Caxton Street, the Petrie Barracks, Suncorp Stadium, and the cultural precinct at South Bank,” Ms Trad said.

When the new station is fully operational it is expected to be utilised by over 230,000 commuters per week.

Planning for Brisbane Live is gaining momentum with AEG Worldwide representatives from Los Angeles visiting Brisbane last month to gather information for the Brisbane Live business case.

The flagship inclusion in the Brisbane Live development proposal is a 18,000 seat entertainment arena, plus the Roma Street Precinct which is set to rival the United States of America's LA Live Complex. Populous, a global architecture firm has been appointed to design the complex. Their past achievements include Suncorp Stadium, London’s O2 Arena, and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The detailed business case for Brisbane Live is expected at the end of the year.

To view the artist impressions on Brisbane Live, along with previous work and future artist impressions of Populous work, visit https://brisbanedevelopment.com/brisbane-transit-centre-demolition-by-2020-for-brisbane-live/.

A new major cycling festival has been secured for Brisbane for three years, and is set to attract thousands of visitors, reports choosebrisbane.com.au.

The Brisbane Cycling Festival will run for three weeks from 26 March to 14 April 2019 and will include a range of professional, amateur and mass participation events, as well as the final of the ‘Six Day’ series; an international renowned series of events where international track cyclists will descend on the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane for the closing stage.

Minister for Tourism Industry Development Kate Jones said the event was a great win for Queensland.

“Cycling is quickly growing in popularity with almost four million Aussies regularly riding a bike.

“This together with the high calibre of Australian and international elite talent who will compete in the festival is sure to attract national and international participants to Queensland’s capital.”

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk echoed the Minister’s delight for the event, adding that the festival will further grow Brisbane’s reputation as a key cycling destination. The major draw card of the Anna Meares Velodrome plus 680km of biking infrastructure will ensure to showcase the facilities Brisbane has to offer.

“Brisbane has already demonstrated its ability to host world-class sporting events, and the Brisbane Cycling Festival will be the latest in the city’s major events calendar,” Cr Quirk said.

The events over the festival are predicted draw 20,000 participants and to provide an economic benefit of around $8 million per year into the economy.

Brisbane is predicted to have the greatest median house price rise out of the capital cities over the next three years according to the latest analysis from BIS Oxford Economics, reports abc.net.au.

In Brisbane by 2021, a thirteen per cent growth is predicted in the median house price to $620,000.  In contrast, Sydney is expected to slow to three percent, and Melbourne will see six per cent growth.

As it has been widely reported, Sydney prices have gone through the roof in recent years.  In 2013, a typical house in Sydney cost around $650,000, while today, that price has blown out to $1.1 million.  It is anticipated the Sydney market will drop a further 2% in 2018/19 but will see a stabilisation in years to follow.

The report indicated growth in the short term may be subdued or possibly even decline in some markets as oversupply may be an issue due to increased tightening on lending, in particular interest only loans, as well as record levels of building approvals (over 200,000 per annum).

On the upside from 2021, "high net overseas migration inflows [are] likely to be sustained in the coming years" — and "economic conditions begin to strengthen and supply falls back below underlying demand," says the report.

Adding to the positivity for Queensland, a Deloitte research paper released earlier this year indicated that Queensland has overtaken Victoria in receiving the highest amount of migrants from interstate. The report indicated Sydney house prices as high as they are, and good job prospects in the Queensland worked in a push/pull way.

Hannah Schuhmann says it is hard to ignore the continued current positivity in the Brisbane property market from a such wide range of credible sources. 

New research from Corelogic and Aussie Home Loans has predicted the median house price in Brisbane will hit $2.24 million in 2043 if growth continues at the same rate as the past 25 years, reports news.com.au.

The past quarter-century has seen the median house price in Brisbane grow by more than 300 percent or approx. $16,290 per annum from $128,000 in 1993, to $545,292 in 2018.

In data released earlier this year, Research Executive Tim Lawless of Corelogic said Brisbane is a prime position to be the leading capital city in dwelling value growth over the next five years, with one key factor being current housing affordability in the city with comparison to Sydney and Melbourne.

Importantly, there are a variety of economic and demographic factors that are likely to support improving market conditions across Brisbane including economic and demographic trends as well as a worsening performance across the larger cities of Sydney and Melbourne which will provide a lower relative benchmark for Brisbane,” said Mr Lawless.

Key points within the report that support Brisbane’s possible future position include:   

• November 2017 – Sydney house values were 102% greater than Brisbane, and Melbourne 57% higher. Median income data shows Sydney households are only earning 12.9% than Brisbane, and Melbourne is 0.7% less than Brisbane.
• Dwelling price to income ration – Sydney 9.11, Melbourne 7.5, with Brisbane at 5.9.
• Gross annual household income required to service a mortgage sitting at 80% of the loan to value ration mortgage is 48.4% for Sydney, 39.9% in Melbourne, and 31.7% Brisbane.
• Net migration into Queensland is the highest of all states, beating Victoria for the first time since 2013, and the majority of the growth coming into the south east.
• Strengthening labour market in Queensland – the fastest growth in any state or territory at 4.8% in the year to November 2017 with 113,000 jobs created in Queensland in the year to Feb 2018 compared to 111,000 in NSW and 94,000 in Victoria. 

Multiplex has commenced Stage 1 of the riverside infrastructure of the Queens Wharf foreshore project, which is set for completion in 2019, reports brisbanedevelopment.com.

Situated on the north bank of the Brisbane River, this will be the first stage of the entire project ready for public use, and will eventually join with the main precinct via the creation of the new ‘Waterline Park’ parkland and ‘Mangrove Walk’ walkway. 

 The 450 metre Mangrove Walk is outlined within the original development application as having the following function and features:  

•  Pedestrian only space with educational signage 
• Rest stops, shelters and lookouts along the boardwalk to enable visitors to take in views
•   Management during peak periods such as River Fire for public safety
•  QUT CityCat access to remain with improved access for pedestrians
•  Sculpture and map details upon entry

Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick says the overall project is one of the largest urban projects ever commenced in Brisbane.

“This project is going to significantly shape and transform Queensland in terms of jobs and economic growth,” said Mr Dick.

Hannah Schuhmann says the hype around the $3.6 billion project is great for the Brisbane CBD, especially the property market, where investors are taking considerable interest in the city due to this development, plus other major infrastructure projects in the pipeline such as Howard Smith Wharves, the new Brisbane Airport runway, Brisbane Quarter development and the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail to name a few.