Re-lifing Townsville’s CBD

Following the CBD workshop held in Townsville on 21 August, the Property Council profiled two case studies of successful urban renewal and adaptive reuse over lunch at the Townsville Brewery on Friday, 22 August.

Matthew Berg- Capital Transactions Manager, Grocon presented a case study of the QV8 development in Melbourne. During construction of the original building, a decision was made at the last minute to build five storeys higher. As a result, the building’s eighth level required structural reinforcements which rendered the space unusable for its intended purpose as a car park.

Many years later, Grocon has returned to the building, and through the use of excellent design, ventilation and lighting, is in the process of turning level eight into eight high-end apartments.

Brian McGuckin- Queensland General Manager, Leighton Properties, then presented an overview of the Leighton/Devine joint venture urban renewal project at Hamilton Harbour in Brisbane.

Once an ugly, underutilised industrial site, the designation of the site as an Urban Development Area by the previous Queensland Government saw the site quickly become a highly activated mixed-use precinct, with excellent connections to Brisbane’s CBD.

Following their presentations, Property Council Chief Executive, Ken Morrison, moderated a panel discussion on how the learnings of these two case studies could be transferred to Townsville.

Take-outs for Townsville include the need for government buy-in and support, a planning framework that facilitates innovation and excellence in design and creativity in order to overcome barriers.

Thanks must go to our three speakers who flew in from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for the event.

Thank you also to our post-event networking sponsors, WT Partnership, for their generous support of the Property Council in Townsville.

Post Event Networking Drinks Sponsor

Townsville Corporate Partner

Townsville Lunch Partner

 Ken Morrison – Property Council of Australia, Brian McGuckin – Leighton Properties & Matthew Berg – Grocon Group

Kathy Mac Dermott – Property Council of Australia – QLD Division, Matthew Berg – Grocon Group, Ken Morrison – Property Council of Australia, Brian McGuckin – Leighton Properties, John Quinlan – Jaytque & Russell Martoo – RCP

David Patton – Knight Frank & Paul Dury – Wilson.Ryan.Grose

Trudy Truscott & Mark Pyers – Townsville Bulletin