Queensland developer Honeycombes Property Group has unveiled plans for a $140 million mixed-use development at Ferny Grove train station, in Brisbane’s north-western suburbs.

Honeycombes, in partnership with Melbourne-based real estate financier MaxCap, will deliver Ferny Grove Central, a 12,000sq m neighbourhood village and an 82 apartment residential building, dubbed The Fernery.

Honeycombes, led by Peter and Vanessa Honeycombe, secured the development rights to the site in 2017 following a competitive tender process run by the Queensland government.

“We have already received a high amount of unprecedented interest from the local market, highlighting the level of demand for both residential apartments and retail opportunities,” Honeycombes managing director Peter Honeycombe said.

The joint venture partners are expecting to announce a number of major tenants in coming months with a mix of high-profile national retailers including supermarkets, fitness centres, child-care and cinema providers expected to be secured on long-term leases.

Honeycombes is also in the final stages of securing a head contractor for the project with construction set to commence shortly.

▲ This project is being built on the 2.6-hectare car park site directly adjoining the rail and bus interchange at Ferny Grove station.

“We have built a very strong relationship with the Queensland state government during the formation of the development and will continue to be committed to the delivery of the transit oriented development for the residence of Ferny Grove,” Honeycombes said.

“Without the government’s contribution of $9 million and the federal government’s $11 million in funding contributions for additional park ‘n’ ride spaces planned for the project could not have been achieved.”

The development adds to Honeycombes development portfolio which totals over $2 billion in delivered projects over the last 25 years.

Non-bank lender MaxCap has previously partnered with Honeycombes, providing debt funding to its $252 million Coorparoo Square development in Brisbane in 2015.

Last year, MaxCap partnered with Melbourne developer Troon Group on several commercial projects including the development of a new 3000sq m BMW car dealership in Berwick for Jowett Motor Group in the city’s south-east and an office redevelopment in Mont Albert.

It has also provided the construction facility for JD Group’s $250 million residential development in the city’s inner-eastern suburb of Hawthorn.

Funding has also been agreed for a $120 million 20-storey mixed-use residential building in South Melbourne being developed by Milbex Group.

Article Source: theurbandeveloper.com

The final design for Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf development has taken another turn with amended plans put forward calling for changes in the mega project’s residential precinct.

The $3.6-billion development—which has taken a significant footprint of the CBD—is well under way, with more than 5000 tonnes of steel, 41,000 cubic metres of concrete and 400,000 cubic metres of fill delivered so far.

The northern riverfront development will feature a new casino, the overhaul of heritage buildings, five new hotels with more than 1000 guest rooms, around 50 restaurants and a major retail precinct.

Proposed amendments to the original application have now been put forward by Destination Brisbane Consortium—which includes the Star group, developers Far East Consortium and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook.

The alterations will affect the project’s residential quarter and predominantly involve changing the land usage, mix and designs of towers five and six.

Tower one is a 43-storey, 667 apartment residential project, while towers two and three—located below the Arc Skydeck—will include the development’s casino and hotels.

Tower four will be the project’s tallest residential tower at 200m while the 49-storey tower five and 45-storey tower six—which were originally intended to be used hotel and residential operations—will now be subject to changes.

▲ Amended designs have called for a shorter format to a now commercial building six, set to sit alongside tower five which is mixed-use with commercial and retail space.

The new round of changes, submitted to Economic Development Queensland, now call for tower five and six—which were previously residential in nature—to be remixed to include commercial floor space.

Tower five is now proposed to be mixed-use and could contain commercial or retail space on the lower levels with residential in the mid and high-rise sections of the building.

Tower six opposite Parliament House, which has been reduced in size, will now become a commercial-only building.

The Cottee Parker-designed building will sit next to Cbus Property’s 1 William Street, a 76,000sq m commercial tower currently occupied by the Queensland government, which was completed in 2016.

The push to diversify the hotel and casino development by adding new A-grade commercial elements comes as landlords scramble to reposition their CBD buildings to bring workers back to the city.

The Queensland capital’s vacancy rate grew to 13.6 per cent last month from 12.9 per cent in July, with most of the increase coming from reduced tenant demand during the second half of a pandemic-hit year.

Around 44,000sq m of new space is due to come online this year and a further 82,000sq m in 2022, adding to the pressure on a market that in the past six months suffered its lowest net absorption of space since January 2018.

The development has reached the fifth level of the 172-metre concrete structure known as a “diaphragm wall”, currently sitting around 20m above the Riverside Expressway.

Destination Brisbane Consortium project director Simon Crooks said despite ongoing amendments due to the possibility of shifting market conditions, the “integrated resort” was quickly taking shape.

“This time next year towers two and three, the dual tower for The Star Grand hotel, will be topping out at around 100m, meaning Queen’s Wharf they will be sitting prominently alongside and above the Riverside expressway,” he said.

“When complete, the Dorsett and Rosewood tower, which sits behind the Printery Building between George and William streets, will be around 200m and is expected to peak around mid-2022.

“And finally, topping out at 240-metres, Queen’s Wharf Residences is expected to reach full height in about two years, well after the hotel towers top-out.”

Early works for construction of the Neville Bonner pedestrian bridge began in March last year on South Bank and will be complete in time for the integrated resort development opening in late-2022.

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A specialist team will be created to ensure land stretching between Tweed Heads and Noosa is able to keep pace with population growth and housing demand.

South-east Queensland’s “200-kilometre city” is predicted to grow by 1.5 million to 5 million in 20 years, making it about the same population as Sydney today.