First look exclusive: Belmonde plot over 1,000 build-to-rent units in "Gabba Heart Precinct"

Brisbane developer Belmonde Property Group, in a joint venture with Sun Luxe Group, have filed plans for their over 1000 build to rent units in the heart of the 2032 Olympic precinct.

The project, dubbed Gabba Heart Precinct at 79 Logan Road, will see four towers built, three of which will home 1,387 build-to-rent units. The fourth tower will be part hotel, part serviced apartments.

The towers will rise above three podiums which will comprise significant retail and food and beverage tenancies. Each of the towers will have amenity on both the podium level and the rooftop. Two will have rooftop swimming pools.

Architecture firm Cottee Parker are behind the designs of the precinct, with landscaping by Urbis. Cottee Parker say the project will "reactivate the heart of Woolloongabba, embrace Brisbane’s subtropical climate, and showcase the best of Queensland’s unique climate and lifestyle with iconic architecture."

Cottee Parker Director Martin Timms says the Gabba Heart Precinct will do for Woolloongabba what the James Street Precinct did for Fortitude Valley.

“This project will reactivate the heart of Woolloongabba, embracing Brisbane’s subtropical climate and showcase the best of Queensland’s unique climate and lifestyle with iconic architecture,” Timms says.

“The projects vision also includes upgrading Logan Road to a high street that will maximise the existing road width and create a vibrant space for a new retail precinct.

“This is the first of what I’m sure will be many developments to meet the needs of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.”

The application is another which is looking to push past the height limits of the area, which is currently set at 20 levels.

Saunders Havill Group suggested in their Town Planning Report that since the adoption of the Woolloongabba centre neighbourhood, the long-term vision for the locality has changed dramatically with investment into significant transport infrastructure and the redevelopment of the Gabba stadium.

"The current circumstances mean that the provisions of the Woolloongabba centre neighbourhood plan are out of date and have been overtaken by events," their submission noted.

"The provision of key infrastructure outcomes and the intent for the locality to be the centre of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games have changed the community’s expectations about the form and scale of development that will occur within the locality. These expectations are no longer linked to the provisions of the neighbourhood plan."

They said this proposal seeks to align with the new expectations and builds on the vision of the locality for high quality development outcomes that leverage the government investment in the precinct.

They cited Trenert's Station Square proposal, which will have five new towers rising up to 40 levels. 

There's also Trilogy, the 525 apartment development Arden Group on the corner of Vulture and Main Streets. They will top 30 levels, as will Aria's Canopy House development and Sarazin's Silk Three towers.

"The development of the site provides the opportunity to not only deliver a high quality, subtropical development outcome that will enliven the site, but also the opportunity to deliver significant improvements to the entirety of the heart of Woolloongabba", Saunders Havill Group added.

79 Logan Road, on a large 9,361 sqm site, is only 250m from Woolloongabba station which connects directly to Brisbane CBD Casino Precinct.