I was up near the site today, and walked past. There was a surveyor on site taking measurements and what not..

Good sign that things are happening.

Update for anyone who doesnt know or has forgotten:

Seymor Tower
Located at 545 Queen street
Height - 156m
Floors – 46
http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=y5sntx&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=y5snti&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=y5sntj&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

isnt there a 10(ish) storey office building on that site at the moment, with the Nokia shop underneath?

the white hexagonal (or octagonal) building with the spire similar to 111 goerge

Malt are you colour blind? Its Green, and has a Millhouse sign at the top.

So they're knocking that one down?

Not a fan of this design. Surely architects can come up with something better than this box. i reckon that in a coupla years, this building will look totally out of date like all the scrapers of the 80's and early 90's era on the gold coast.

at least it adds something to the skyline

Well it may be good or bad. We honestly cant know until we see a far better render.

Yes mike theyre nocking mot everything in that area down for all these towers

Still not approved according to the our Brisbane site.

The way the market is going at the moment I guess the Millhouse IAG Building will be around for a while yet... which is good - I kind of like it.

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/331/1003796s2zz.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

It just looks like another boring apartment building. While development in Brisbane is great, I think we should start being a little more choosey as to the type of buildings that are constructed now in the ever-decreasing CBD land space.

I don't like skyscrapers that look okay from one side but look ugly from the other side. Many apartment towers in Brisabne tend to be like that unfortunately. I suspect this tower is one of them...

It just looks like another boring apartment building. While development in Brisbane is great, I think we should start being a little more choosey as to the type of buildings that are constructed now in the ever-decreasing CBD land space.

I agree. For this reason I'm secretly hoping this one doesn't go ahead.

looks like a mini 110 george st.
hey is that on emporis?

^No its not Cul - and that 111 George-esque spire would take it to well over 35m wouldn't it.

it looks stupid for such a short building to have a big roof feature on it like that.

I really hope the render at the top is not the actual design. Has anyone heard anything at all on this recently? JayT?

Has this been approved by the Council?

This building is rubbish.

It's like the architect got the brief, went and photocopied the skyline tower, stretched it a bit and said 'right lads I'm off to the pub'.

I mean there are NO features on that tower, not even a roof feature, or a spire.

What's worse it's at a 'whatever' level of height.

Brisbane deserves better. This is borderline a commie block!

lmao @ description.


Honestly id prefer a different decent design.

Maybe Emerald can be made larger and built on this site.

^
that's probably because it is designed by the same people as Skyline.

I don't really consider a 156m 'whatever'.

Has this been approved by the Council?

Not yet.

156m of shit is definately "whatever".

Design/architectural merit should be a made critereon for approval in Brisbane. There are just wayyyy too many shit apartment towers going up.

Does any city use such a criteria currently?

This is what was happening in Sydney 10 years ago, crap was going up so council made a descion that a "competition" between 5 or so architects had to be run when a major skyscraper is planned.The comp is run with a selection panel and CSPC who choose the finest design on archictectural merit. One of the first dA comps was World Tower.later Aurora Place,Cove,East,latitude,Deutsche bank,Westpac Lumiere,meriton tower ect. i think its best idea.you end of with the best design for the site.

That method probably costs a bit more though.

luckily they had a design comp with Vision. they ended up with a beauty.

They also had a design comp for the QGOMA at southbank - they are holding one for the new King George Square and another comp for the foot bridge QGOMA to Tank or Roma streets.

Yeah and the QLD govt chose the cheapest, most boring design for GOMA.

We should extend the "keep Australia beautiful" principle to architecture :yes:

New King George square?

Like 480 Queen Street, which was just sold to APH so they could build a mixed use tower on it, looks like this site may be going to sale this year. If so fair to say, like 480 Queen Street the current crap tower proposal will get the boot?

Watpac profit to be enhanced by property sales
Finance News, Feb 1.
Sydney - Wednesday - Feb 1: (RWE Australian Business News) -

Watpac Ltd (ASX code: WTP) today announced the sale contract for the property at 480 Queen Street, Brisbane, known as the Australian Red Cross building, had become unconditional.

Watpac has a 50 per cent interest in this building, which was offered for sale late last year as part of the Seymour Group's Queensland Collection portfolio. APH Properties has undertaken to unconditionally purchase this property for $32 million, which is due for settlement in June 2006.

Watpac's share of profit from the sale of this property will be about $6 million, which will crystallise on settlement, thereby enhancing Watpac's second-half profits.

The second-half profits are anticipated to be further enhanced by the sale of an office building at 545 Queen Street (in which the company also has a 50% interest), under purchaser's due diligence until February 28.

luckily they had a design comp with Vision. they ended up with a beauty.

Is there anyway of seeing the other proposals that were for the vision site?

^
I posted them months ago. click. (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=3414743&postcount=86)

Oh, cheers mate!!

edit

Heres a refurb to that octagonal building on queen street. Personally i never liked it all and i like how they are removing the spire structure. This development looks good.

http://www.ourbrisbane.com/public/DAServlet/930354?pagenumber=2

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6015/11rq1.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11rq1.jpg)

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4296/23ic2.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=23ic2.jpg)

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/438/32oo1.th.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/my.php?image=32oo1.jpg)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8131/49ia.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=49ia.jpg)

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9306/52fr1.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=52fr1.jpg)

It looks much better here than it does currently, but personally I think this is such an undervalued development for this site. Mega prime location.

Nice...

^^That one is 549 Queen actually

Ohhh, ok fixed...so Is this one next door?

Opposite Macrossan street toward the Valley on Queen

I guess a temporary fix. This site will be a long term biggie.

Nice projects.

APH (developers of the 80 storey 480 Queen Street and Aurora (both next door just about)) have now brought this site.

Proposals to date have been:
1.) A rubbish 156m Seymour resi
2.) An even more rubbish 11 storey refurb of the office block by K&K Retail.

So...

I wonder what will happen here now? My spidey senses tell me that you pay that much for the land (same as for 480 Queen St) then you will build something decent on it, maybe a future supertall in the making here?

Certainly APH has the pedigree.

JV partners onsell Brisbane building
Property Review - By Stephen Naylor Aug 1, 2006

Watpac Limited and the Seymour Group have onsold there Brisbane CBD property at 545 Queen Street for $28 million. APH and Anthony Morton Group have signed an unconditional contract to acquire the building.

[545 Queen Street in Brisbane] The property was originally purchased by the joint venture partners for $15.9 million in August 2004 and has cost approximately $2 million over the years to maintain. The sale has resulted in a $10 million profit for Seymour and Watpac.

Jones Lang LaSalle's Mr Geoff McIntyre introduced the purchaser to the sale, which is due to settle in January 2007.

Located in a prime spot at the northern end of the Brisbane CBD, 545 Queen Street lies on elevated land and offers 360 degrees of uninterrupted views. The property is ideal for commercial and residential development.

Watpac's Managing Director, Greg Kempton, said the decision to sell the property was part of the group's development strategy of maximising return on shareholders' funds.

"Our feasibility studies and assessments on onselling this property revealed outcomes which were as lucrative as developing it with fewer risks, making this move a strategic play for our stakeholders," said Mr Kempton.

Mr Kempton said the growth in the property market over the years had worked in their favour and onselling 545 Queen Street capitalised on this.

"Our core operations lie in construction and property development and this will not change. When developing, we factor in the risks of building, leasing and selling the development to consumers. Should the option to onsell result in greater, more strategic and profitable outcomes for the company's shareholders, it is only logical we would consider this option," he said.

Cool, this is one to keep your eyes on. Fingers crossed, I am hoping for a mixed use on this one, but I hope it doesn't have as much trouble as Emerald did with the location and 'state interest'.

^^That is exactly what I was thinking, being just around the corner and all

Well they are considering all options, lets hope they do the same thing as with 480 Queen! At this stage could get a office/resi or major mixed use here potentially!

Watpac makes CBD sale
2 August 2006, AFR

Acquisitive property developer APH Group and financier Anthony Moreton Group have bought another Seymour and Watpac asset on the edge of the Brisbane CBD for a major mixed-use development.

APH and Anthony Moreton yesterday forked out $28 million buying an older commercial block at 545 Queen Street with several options in mind, including an office block and/or residential development.

APH managing director John Wilson said he was extremely confident of Brisbane's commercial office market at present but was weighing up several options for 545 Queen Street.

"Brisbane is very strong for leasing opportunities and asset sales," he said.

APH could extend the existing eight level commercial office building and re-lease it or demolish it and build a larger office block. Alternatively it could build a residential tower. "We are exploring all options," said Mr Wilson yesterday.

The partners acquired another Seymour and Watpac asset earlier this year, buying the Red Cross Office building at 480 Queen Street with plans for a $600 million hotel and office block. Mr Wilson expects to lodge a development application for a combined hotel and office block later this month for the 480 Queen Street site.

APH is planning a 220-room hotel as well as commercial office space. The building is leased to the Red Cross until November 2007 but Mr Wilson said there had already been significant interest from international hoteliers.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday, Watpac said it had acquired 545 Queen Street with the Seymour Group in 2004, paying $15.9 million. The joint venture partners have since spent $2 million maintaining it.

"The sale has resulted in a $10 million profit for Seymour and Watpac," said the ASX announcement.

Watpac's managing director Greg Kempton said the decision to sell the building was part of the group's development strategy of maximising return on shareholders funds.

"Our feasibility studies and assessments on on-selling this property revealed outcomes which were as lucrative as developing it with fewer risks, making this move a strategic play for our stakeholders," said Mr Kempton.

As I said in post 2!!
It looks much better here than it does currently, but personally I think this is such an undervalued development for this site. Mega prime location.

Indeed, it's a great site, nice elevation as well, very prominent view.

Well just like with 480 Queen they are considering the options and a mixed use tallie is quite possible here.

Imagine 480 Queen with a twin of sorts here.

Surely mixed use i the way to go here, luxury apartments on top, capitalise on those fantastic views. Then have offices down the bottom. Add a hotel as well since that area is a hotel prectint and well, by the time it's built Brisbane will need another hotel. Basically I would repeat the 480 Queen formula here, maybe with more office. This will come online a year or two after 480 Queen so it will stagger nicely.

In any case, one to watch!:)

My only concern is that a tallie in this area (think Emerald) is going to come under the too tall next to the height limit zone, we'll try to find any reason why it can't be built. Just niggling concerns, that's all.

I noticed that both reports failed to mention an apartment component for 480 Queen.
Does that mean it is just an office/hotel development now and will that therefore reduce its overall height.

549 Queen is next door and it's almost 200m tall as it is anyway. So this will make a nice peak if they go mixed-use on it. As for 480, nah, half the articles on 480 just talk about mixed use in a general sense ie hotel and office, but APH have said it will be 80 levels, so I wouldn't worry.

^^That hasn't been approved yet though has it??

Don't know, maybe it has, I don't trust the BCC site, Vision is approved (except CASA) but it still hasn't updated that has it, in any case 549 Queen will get approved, statistically almost all towers proposed get approved so all the worrying people do on here is usually over nothing.

Brisbane is looking healthy, and mighty fine. I wonder how many more proposals will come about before xmas shutdown.

Damn this wasn't expected at all... Good news.

I just wish that they had NAMES! any name... there's so much going on I don't know which design is where...

A-grade space . . . going, going, gone
3 August 2006 AFR


OFFICE SQUEEZE; Brisbane

CBD SNAPSHOT
Total vacancy rate 2.3%
Total stock 1,711,795 sq m
6-month net absorption 12,138 sq m
New development 2007 71,710 sq m

Source: Property Council of Australia

Property developers are clamouring for more sites in Brisbane to feed tenant demand for new space - but builders warn that some may have left it too late.

Brisbane's central business district office vacancy rate has officially plummeted to the lowest on record. Just 2.3 per cent of offices are vacant, according to Property Council research released yesterday.

With a vacancy rate of just 0.6 per cent, there is virtually no A-grade office accommodation in Brisbane. Availability of B-grade space is little better, with just 1.6 per cent vacant, according to the Property Council.

As such, Brisbane has the lowest CBD office vacancy rate of any state, and landlords are cashing in.

"Over the next 12 months rents could conservatively rise 15 per cent to 20 per cent, given the shortfall of stock," CB Richard Ellis's director of office leasing, Campbell Tait, said. "There's certain landlords in Brisbane that are considering holding tenders or expressions of interest on any available stock, which is unprecedented."

The Property Council's office market research shows the vacancy trend began in July 2004 as a result of the booming local economy and dramatic growth in white-collar employment. In the past six months, vacancies have decreased by 1.2 percentage points across all grades of office space.

"The big mover was premium grade, which saw a drop of 5.6 percentage points to 5.8 per cent," the Property Council said. "The move was due solely to demand, as there were no supply additions or withdrawals to this segment of the market."

Property Council Queensland executive director Robert Walker said in a statement that several projects under way, such as Brisbane Square and The Georgian, would help meet some of the imminent demand.

According to Greg Kempton, the managing director of Queensland's largest publicly listed construction company, Watpac, there's a lot of demand for space. "This means if you can find the right building or right site then obviously it's going to be easier to get a tenant for it," Mr Kempton said.

"The problem is anyone who hasn't started building right now will find it will take at least two years to get the space into the market.

"The only way to do that is to lock up tenants now if you have the site, but there's obviously risks associated with that."

Mr Kempton said demand for Brisbane CBD office space was to do with the "churn" factor.

"In certain companies, solicitors and accountants, there are increasing [staff] numbers to cope with Queensland's booming economy. Nine times out of 10, these companies are "space locked" - they have other companies above and below them and the only way they can find space is to go to another building.

"That is the bulk of the demand," he said.

Watpac sold an office block at 545 Queen Street, Brisbane to APH and Anthony Moreton Group this week. APH managing director John Wilson is weighing up whether to develop residential or office - or a combination of both - on the site, which is located on Brisbane CBD's northern fringe.

Mr Wilson is buoyed by the low vacancy figures. He is also adding to Brisbane's office space with a $600 million hotel and commercial project in planning, also in Queen Street. "Brisbane is very strong for leasing opportunities and asset sales," he said.

With a vacancy rate of 4.2 per cent, Brisbane's near-city market is also experiencing low vacancies and, according to the Property Council, it faces a significant supply challenge over the next 18 months. "A total of 12,645 square metres is due to enter the market in the last half of 2006, of which 64 per cent is precommitted," it said.

More than 40,000 sq m of new space is mooted for the Brisbane inner-city market, and the Property Council warns that this will be a challenge to fill.

"[But] it may just be what the Brisbane CBD market needs to alleviate intense pressure," the council said.

^wow, mixed use is on cards.brisbane sure is catching up with office demand.
i reckon within 5 years the skyline will be sea of cranes with Vision peering down with its curved 280m spire.

What would a 600 million dollar tower buy us? Vision was originally 600mil!!

It's hard to say, it depends if they mean construction cost or the cost of apartments etc.

Only thing is, in the case of 480 Queen, it is hotel and office and resi so it's harder to make a massive figure like with a big apartment tower like Vision or Soul. For instance, if they jack up the price of the apartments on Vision by 20 percent, then it's total figure rises to say 1 billion, I doubt things physically become much more expensive, though having said that costs have risen a lot.

Only a third of this thing is apartments so that might affect the cost if the figure is meant to include final sales cost.

In terms of construction costs, it's usually way lower, well something like Empire Square by Cottee for instance is 200 million dollars, and that's 240m+_

Either way that figure for 480 Queen is vague enough and lacking in context to be good for a 250m tower or 300m or whatever.

I'm prayin for 300m on 480, though I'm used to being let down on height predictions, so it could be as low as 240m. I just hope nothing has changed since JayT's original scoop, speaking of which what happened to him anyway?

Anyway, back to 545 Queen...

Here is the approved design for this site. link. (http://www.ourbrisbane.com/government/transactions/search/stuff/psf/bcc//q/q/a/upyq/pa930354_0001.pdf)

^^ Nice work KJB - this building reminds me of the back of Aurora, when it was U/C and only about 15 stories.

^^This one from what I can make out is 10st and 40m.

I wish I was "seyingmore" towers.

looks like they're keeping the existing tower and just adding a podium-style structure on the ground floor?

Shame, because they were considering building a mixed use tower on this site. But I guess building 480 and another one here might have been a stretch.

^^If they are not increasing the height much, it's better than building a small tower on the site...easier to pull down!!!

^^^ that seems like their strategy, it looks like they are just spending a little cash to increase the holding income so they can sit on the site a little longer.

^^^ that seems like their strategy, it looks like they are just spending a little cash to increase the holding income so they can sit on the site a little longer.

Yep, I'd say they are sitting on it for a while. The site itself could support another 480 Queen Street.

Below is from an article back in August of 2006, which shows the ways it could have gone:

...APH could extend the existing eight level commercial office building and re-lease it or demolish it and build a larger office block. Alternatively it could build a residential tower. "We are exploring all options," said Mr Wilson yesterday...

...Watpac sold an office block at 545 Queen Street, Brisbane to APH and Anthony Moreton Group this week. APH managing director John Wilson is weighing up whether to develop residential or office - or a combination of both - on the site, which is located on Brisbane CBD's northern fringe.

Sounds interesting... ever hopefull for something of full glass design - whatever height they choose.

Approved according to today's Prime Site.

Construction to start in July.

There was an ad in the Prime Site Section selling this property. It'd be a good site for anyone wanting to build a resi. tower.

Didn't APH buy this originally? Are they onselling it, or did the sale fall through?

They could be onselling after the approval, but who knows. I don't get it sometimes.

Interesting! They only had approval for a small building anyway, I don't think that will be too enticing for a prospective buyer of the site. Now let's hope Devine don't buy it....

Interesting! They only had approval for a small building anyway, I don't think that will be too enticing for a prospective buyer of the site. Now let's hope Devine don't buy it....

They are shopping at the moment and they have a very fat cheque book!

Maybe they can use this as their entry to mixed use.... One good thing about Devine is they are fairly good at street level, with retail/restaurants... Or is that a requirement by the council?

Who am I kidding, Devine suck.

Maybe they can use this as their entry to mixed use.... One good thing about Devine is they are fairly good at street level, with retail/restaurants... Or is that a requirement by the council?

Who am I kidding, Devine suck.

You had me going there for a minute!

From today's Fin Rev:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/545QueenA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/545QueenB.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/Muse11/545QueenC.jpg

I hope it gets redeveloped to something else. Just a bit small for the site ATM.

I know this project doesn't warrant much attention, BUT their TOWER CRANE went up last weekend.

The BrisVegas skyline always looks better with more tower cranes up dont you think?

The scheme includes a massive 5 storey podium - short building but big on area. As I have said before - what a waste of a great site !

BTW, this project seems to have two threads:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=353771&highlight=545+queen&page=2

^^Yeah, this is the carry over thread for the previous tower that was proposed on the site, and the other thread I believe is for the APH proposal. This one turned into a thread for the APH proposal though.

Maybe this can be archived or merged?

guys, ive merged threads.im confused. how tall is this one going to be?

This will actually be a little shorter than the current (only because of the roof feature) but will have a much larger GFA. I'll look for the DA later this evening.

Good bit of consolidation I suppose.

From an older set of plans:
The Queen St entry NGL is RL 18.275, and the screening around the LMR is RL 59.525.
That makes it 41.250m high
It has 10 office floors & 2 plant levels.

Firstly, don't say you're not interested in this project, we already know that.

Hutchies poured their ground slab last week. They will now start on the massive 2,200m2 podium levels, probably after Xmas. They are BIG floor plates !

The Stats on this project are interesting: 13,000m2 office over 10 levels. The big long facade running down Queen Street will be unmissable. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. The Architect (Nettleton Tribe) have a few projects happening in the CBD at the moment.

This will contrast significantly with the tall slim towers going up in and around Petrie Bight. Will be interesting.

BTW MyFavco, thanks for all of your updates. Highly informative.

thanks mrfavco. atleast someones giving us updates in city. ill change thread title.
cheers

Monday 27th January
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8df06b3127cceb4055d48ea5300000026102QbOXDVqzZa

Wed 5th March 2008

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3183/p2130039eo5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3348/p2130046ex0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/KJBrissy/03052008030.jpg

That is a decent sized tenancy !

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2485653596_4911c0ecb5_o.jpg

seems like a bit of a waste for such a good site

At least it has glass.

It is only a short-term project, I'd say it will be redeveloped in 10-15yrs.

Taken 10.07.2008
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/2655858678_dc55e5982e_b.jpg

Isn;t this where they were going to build that 60 floor resi tower? Or next door?

Next door mate where triple m where. The crane is down looks not too bad still got alot too do.

29th August 2008

Basically walked past this one today on my way between others and just had a snap. Looks essentially done so just internal fit out ect. Topped Out!

http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/13613107.jpg

This project was finished in October.

It is an imposing looking building when you look up at it from Customs House. It has a busy facade, but somehow it works really well. Excellent choice of green.

Photos please!

This building is now For Sale (http://www.realcommercial.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=depi&t=com&id=5526811&img=c&s=qld). GPT are selling it due to their ongoing financial troubles.

It is very rare to see a new Greenstar building offered for sale on the open market.

GPT fund to sell Brisbane office building (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25583068-25658,00.html)
The Australian | Bridget Carter | June 04, 2009

GPT Group's Wholesale Office Fund has put its recently completed $110 million Brisbane office building on the market.

Fund manager Martin Ritchie yesterday confirmed a marketing campaign was planned for 545 Queen Street, a site it purchased from Brisbane-based APH Properties in 2007 and turned into a 13,100sqm office building last year.

The building was 80 per cent leased, Mr Ritchie said.

GPT Wholesale Office paid $28 million for the site to build an office tower with an end-value of about $110 million, with the fund as the long-term owner. The wholesale fund is yet to sell its 16-storey office building at 179 Elizabeth Street in Sydney, which was placed on the market last month, and two office buildings in Mort Street, Canberra, marketed for about $50 million in April.

Mr Ritchie said the purpose of the asset sales was to deleverage the balance sheet for "future buying opportunities".

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3596338123_92e2be3595_b.jpg

Across the road from this building on Ann street there is a vacant block with a "for sale" sign on it that says there is an existing DA approved and ready to start i believe. Any idea what that would be?

^^ Could it be this site, its across the road, next to the pub.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=819432

It would be the one on the other side of the road squished in between two buildings.

What? Sarino Russos' building? The didgy blue one up against the Marriot?

That has been for sale for 4 years.

No, the one without any building on it at all on Ann Street opposite the Orient hotel.

Oh, that little thing. That is the 9 storey office building on the old Aboriginal Community Centre site (before the building was accidently demolished by Multiplex when building next door :ohno:). It has been on the market for 2 years now. It was proposed by POD Developments (who often JV with Watpac). POD also had a hand in the failed proposal for the Emerald site across the road.

Designed by CCN, it is about 3000m2 and has 14 carparks.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3645739824_9ab5f81bc0_o.jpg

mm. pathetic.