The factory, which has producing milk since the 1930s, is set to close in September, opening the way for the Montague Road Provisional Priority Development Area, announced by the state government this month. The South Brisbane factory land has been added to the Development Area, the surplus warehouse site bought last year. The deal increases Stockwell’s Kurilpa peninsula holding to more than 5 hectares.
Stockwell has pitched the riverfront land as a long-term mixed-use precinct, with temporary Olympic 2032 venues for sport climbing and skateboarding proposed as part of a wider public-realm and entertainment program.
Stockwell said while he expected development of the five-hectare site to take up to 15 years, with the masterplan’s focus was on creating a world-class precinct for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
"We'll have a couple of hectares that could be used as temporary facilities and entertainment and live sites for the Olympics," he said. Stockwell has proposed replicating Paris 2024’s Champions Park, the free festival style celebration where athletes were presented to crowds of around 13,000 people, at the new riverside parkland.
The wider precinct is where the masterplan starts to feel like a city in miniature. It would feature a riverside pavilion inspired by a mussel, a public square, and 300 metres of restaurants, bars and music venues tucked underneath the railway line. Stockwell said arts, performance, entertainment and nightlife would be supported by places to live, shop, work and recreate.
The former Paul’s land would extend South Bank and the Cultural Precinct, linking West End, South Brisbane, the CBD, Suncorp Stadium, Olympic stadiums and Queen’s Wharf, with seven bridges and three train stations within walking distance.
Mr Stockwell said below the rail line there would be a "trail of bars, taprooms and entertainment" which he has dubbed "The Beer Mile".
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the plans. “It’s really exciting to see a renewal happening in that location,” he said.
A development application for the first stage of the development, for a 300-apartment tower, is set to be lodged in the coming weeks.