Tall & Urban News

Heritage Site Conversion to Student Housing Planned in Brisbane

26 July 2021 | Brisbane, Australia
Braggs Place would include a co-working hub taking up 1,200 square meters in the podium, 8,000 square meters of student accommodation on the lower levels, and co-living apartments above. Image credit: Arkhefield
Braggs Place would include a co-working hub taking up 1,200 square meters in the podium, 8,000 square meters of student accommodation on the lower levels, and co-living apartments above. Image credit: Arkhefield

A 180-unit purpose-built student accommodation project in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley has been proposed for a heritage-listed site occupied by the Waltons, Overells, and Lincoln Mills buildings.

The Lee family owns a portfolio of more than 50 properties in Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba. They, alongside ASX-listed alternatives fund Millinium, have already lined up Torrens University as the anchor tenant for the project's first stage, which will redevelop the red-brick Waltons building at 240 Brunswick Street.

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Recently lodged stage two plans designed by Arkhefield involve a 29-story tower. Braggs Place would include a co-working hub taking up 1,200 square meters in the podium, 8,000 square meters of student accommodation on the lower levels, and co-living apartments above.

The 3.5-hectare L-shaped block, next to Fortitude Valley train station and the McWhirters building, has been owned by the Lee family’s investment company Mount Cathay for almost 40 years.

The development has an end value of between AU$180 million (US$133 million) and AU$200 million (US$148 million). It will include partial demolition of the Waltons and Braggs buildings, with the building’s façades to be retained, and the refurbishment of the Overells and Lincoln Mills buildings.

The development will also include a new public plaza, a link from Brunswick Street to the station and a new retail laneway.

Across the street, Brisbane developer Cornerstone currently has plans before the Brisbane City council for a 28-storey commercial tower at 251 Wickham Street.

For more on this story, go to The Urban Developer.