The commercial parts of those cities are not busy outside work hours, but the recreational and retail areas are. The equivalent to much of that in Brisbane is Southbank and The Valley.
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Maybe they could close off the uptown car park exit onto Albert street and turn it into a pedestrian tunnel under Elizabeth Street. They still have the exit onto Elizabeth street.
I know some details about Vicinityās early plans from when they were still negotiating with Myer about redevelopment plans, and the corner entrance at Elizabeth & Albert Streets would still be a major entrance point, but the escalators right at that corner might be relocated further into the centre.
In a nutshell, their idea for the now-Uptown was to try and reroute the centreās primary internal circulation via Level Q, rather than how much of it currently goes via the Level E food court. This would make Levels E, Q and 1 work in a similar fashion to the Lower Ground, Ground and Level 1 at Queens Plaza - primary retail is focused on the Ground Level which becomes the main thoroughfare, the lower ground features the foodcourt and everyday essentials (Coles, Chemist), and Level 1 features more general retail, but in a way that is much more accessible from the main thoroughfare.
Level A would remain more or less as is with the bus station, but people coming into the centre from Queen Street would be funnelled down from Level Q.
I agree with all that. But on top of that, I think they should also unlock the rooftop.
^^ That would be a big job as the centre has a lot of plant infrastructure on the roof, as well at the skylights, that would need to be relocated. Also, the mansard roof to Queen Street would prevent any rooftop venue that could overlook the mall.
My hope is that the windows in the heritage facades can be opened and some new dining venues can utilise them - I donāt believe the Hotel Carlton verandahs would ever be able to be opened up though - I feel they were reconstructed to be visual, rather than functional.
And in Myer Centre news, itās now official - Vicinity Centres have bought out IMF Investors (formerly ISPT)'s 75% share.
*Brisbaneās Uptown set for major revitalisation after Vicinity Centres takeover
New owners will take control of Brisbaneās former Myer Centre after three years in limbo, with the retail icon set for a major redevelopment.
Chris Herde
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February 18, 2026 - 10:32AM
The Australian Business Network
Retail giant Vicinity Centres has confirmed it will be the sole owner of the former Myer Centre in the heart of the Brisbane CBD after agreeing to buy out its partner IMF Investorsā 75 per cent share of the iconic shopping centre, which paves the way for its revitalisation.
Vicinity Centres has held a 25 per cent stake in the property since 2012 and has exercised its rights to acquire the rest of the asset in a deal worth $212m.
Vicinity said contracts are expected to be exchanged by the end of April 2026, with the acquisition then to settle in June 2026, following receipt of the required Ministerial consent in relation to certain ancillary land rights.*
TODs and other development are often proposed to ārevitaliseā or āactivateā an area with a mix of residential, shopping and office work uses.
However, these spaces are going to be less active or not active at all when shop trading hours regulations are considered.
Off peak PT use is where we can build patronage. If shop trading hours were deregulated, at least in SEQ, then more of these TOD developments would be activated for longer and the experience at the pedestrian level would be more lively.
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Itās been in the news that the Nighttime Economy Commissioner has recommended Daylight Saving as well as extending retail trading hours. The whole of Brisbaneās Council area incl all suburbs should have been Type 1 when they reviewed them last, being 6 am - 10 pm Monday to Saturday and 7 am - 9 pm Sundays and public holidays.
If they introduce Daylight Saving in Se Qld then patronage would improve as well, especially early evening until 8 pm. Itās a known fact that PT use drops off significantly after sunset due to safety concerns.
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Using that argument, it would make more sense to introduce DST during the winter months.
Vicinity opened up the dining in Queenās Plaza on the upper floor to the outside to great effect. Iām not confident theyāll achieve much with Uptown. $300m is not going to get you an awful lot on that site and I expect a huge amount will be upgrading the ageing plant equipment. A better outcome would have been a partial demolition, but with the busway and heritage aspects it is extremely costly to build above. Also with a bunch of vacancies in the city, it seems like a few projects have slowed right down.
Not āapprovedā, unless that term means something other than what the Planning Act is concerned with.
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Not approved, I donāt think it has even been submitted as a development application yet.
Theyāre trying to piggy back off the development approval that came with the site, but even then it will require a least a Change Application to make that work.
It also looks like the hotel is going to have a man-made beach, because everyone knows that this site is not absolute beachfrontā¦
I think that Vicinity can actually do a lot to improve the centre with that money. Having seen some non-public documentation from when Vicinity were in discussions with Myer prior to their leaving, I believe I have a pretty good idea of how they are going to reconfigure the centre - I think it is achieveable with the $300m, and I think it will address a lot of the structurally-related circulation issues that the centre has (but getting people up to Level 2 & 3 will still depend on what is put up there).
I think they need at least a billion. Maybe if the people on the Gold Coast donāt want a Trump Tower than Vicinity could sell off some of the site and put it there instead.
Hopefully the new owners will develop this into a mixed use TOD
I think that will be their long term plan but I think it will be a smaller reconfiguration to make the site more lucrative. Then a full TOD redevelopment in 10-20 years post Olympics.
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We have some numbers finally around zoning within 1km of a train station.
The QPC identified that 69% of Brisbane land within one kilometre of train stations is restricted to low-density or character zoning.
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