Celeb chef Matt Moran to open at Southpoint
Anthony John Group’s $600 million Southpoint development in Brisbane has completed another milestone with the opening of its retail and dining complex.
Anchor tenant Woolworths opened last week in the 5000sqm Grey Street retail precinct and specialty outlets — including Neil Perry’s Burger Project, Mrs Luu’s, Pour Boy and Artisan Bakery — open on Friday. The openings mark another milestone in the eight-year development process of the triple-tower, mixed-use precinct on what was billed as the “last piece of Southbank”.
Anthony John Group chief executive Shane Bulloch tells The Australian the huge development is “coming to fruition” after a long process of planning and construction. Apartment sales in the development launched in 2013.
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Bulloch says Collins Place, the striking heritage building at the centre of the 3800sqm development, attracted strong interest from potential operators. It will be the new home of a fresh offering from celebrity chef Matt Moran.
“We thought that would have been the hardest to lease,” Bulloch says. “Every time someone came up from Melbourne or Sydney they flocked to it.”
The 127-year-old building has been leased to hospitality management group Solotel, a group owned by Moran and Bruce Solomon, with the restaurant expected to open mid-year.
The head office of global travel company Flight Centre late last year moved into the precinct, with a 10-year lease for the 23,500sqm office tower.
Every time someone came up from Melbourne or Sydney they flocked to it
In 2014, the Anthony John Group sold the commercial tower to German property investor Union Investment Real Estate for $206 million.
Only five high-end apartments remain for sale in the Emporium Residences, priced at $1.85 million to $5.4 million, from the 413 apartments across two towers.
Sales in the Emporium Apartments totalled $84 million, while cumulative sales in the Emporium Residences are $105 million. The flagship 141-room Emporium hotel is expected to be completed in 2018.
Founder and managing director Tony John says the hotel and serviced apartments will see a new level of amenity in the Brisbane market.
“We are taking that five-star branding, that luxury branding, we developed at The Emporium, to bring that to apartments,” he says. Bulloch says the attempted sale of the Emporium Hotel in Fortitude Valley last year is ongoing.
It was a year of building for the Brisbane-based Anthony John Group.
The company is continuing planning for its $600 million, 6ha masterplanned community East Village in suburban Cannon Hill, 8km east of Brisbane’s city centre.
Two six-storey apartment buildings were completed last year, adding to the 105 townhouses in the complex. The third stage of three six-storey towers, 1200sqm of parklands and 1000sqm of retail is due for release this year.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
