Restaurants and high-rise apartments? How Victoria Barracks could be redeveloped
While the Victoria Barracks site could be developed into a new West Village-style hub featuring restaurants, retail, offices and high-rise apartments, its sale also reopens the possibility of a land bridge connecting Petrie Terrace to Roma Street Parklands.
This is according to a development industry expert; A Brisbane architectural firm claims the federal government’s sale further boosts the viability of its radical plan to build a giant new park on the railways.
Defense minister and deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced Wednesday that nearly $3 billion worth of defense ministry real estate, including historic barracks, will be sold across the country.
The 2.7-hectare inner-city site has long attracted the attention of developers in Brisbane. Many of its buildings are heritage protected and cannot be demolished, but there are several large pieces of open space and the block was previously valued at around $200 million.
Ross Elliott, chair of the Lord Mayor’s Better Suburbs Initiative, said: “In my view this should have been done much sooner because nothing has happened for so long.”
“You can imagine this being an area with restaurants, shops, residences, professional offices… probably some of them could be built with very tall buildings.
“Kind of a West Village mix [is possible] … I think this is great news.”
Elliott, who is also director of policy and research group Suburban Futures, revealed that the underground car park of the former police barracks next door (now a large shopping centre) was built with possible future expansion into the defense area in mind.
A land bridge to Petrie Terrace was planned under the Beattie government, but the project never materialized. Elliott said this should be explored again in the redevelopment of defense land.
“It seems like it makes a lot of sense to connect this to the Rome Street Parking Lots… trying to figure out that connection and make it pedestrian friendly and intuitive would probably be a plus.”
In December last year, architecture firm Bureau Proberts published a radical proposal for a 7.5-hectare “elevated, walkable green canopy” over the railway yards. It was stated that the sale announcement made on Thursday increased the feasibility of this plan.
“The sale and development of Victoria Barracks in Petrie Terrace creates a fantastic opportunity to connect this area to the CBD,” executive and creative director Liam Proberts said in a statement.
“The barracks could be a catalyst for our proposed Roma Street Canopies project, which will create walkable connections and parkland that will connect it directly to the CBD and the planned Brisbane 2032 Olympic venues at Victoria Park.
“This project could benefit the city… This will increase accessibility to the area currently closed to the public, create more foot traffic and open up the heritage aspects of the area to a wider audience.”
Elliott was not convinced that the project was feasible.
“Architects are putting forward a lot of plans for things that can’t be built financially… it’s great to have these ideas, I think they should be encouraged, but unless it’s developable it’s likely to stay on the drawing board.”
It’s unclear how much direct interest the developers have in the sheds due to the announcement. State and local governments held their cards close to their chests when contacted for comment.
A Brisbane City Council representative described the sale as an “exciting opportunity” and said independent planning officers would consider future plans as soon as they were submitted.
Deputy Prime Minister and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie said in a statement: “Queensland is open for business and we will always be open to exploring opportunities to deliver a fresh start for prime vacant land, including new housing or defense industry opportunities.”
The Greens expressed disappointment over the sale of public land and Queensland senator Penny Allman-Payne called Labor’s announcement hypocritical.
“With so little public land remaining in the city, every square inch that can be built on should go towards good public housing and amenities such as parkland, childcare and aged care,” he said in a statement.
“It is typical hypocrisy that Labor is happy to criticize the LNP for selling public land to developers, but all is well when they are the ones in charge.
“We expect this from Federal Labor, but actually this is the first test for Brisbane’s new member. Will he stand up for his community, or will he be just another backbencher who allowed the Premier to sell him out?”
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