If you want to imagine how the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games athletes’ village might look and operate, glance about 80 kilometres to the south on the Gold Coast.
More than 2500 people now live in the build-to-rent community Smith Collective at Southport, which has evolved over three years from the 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village.
By July, the community’s population will be about 3000. All residents are renting for between six months and two years.
With Hamilton Northshore emerging as a potential Brisbane Games athletes’ village, the transition at Southport shows how the state government-owned riverside land could transition from Olympics infrastructure to a residential and commercial precinct.
Both parcels of land are managed by the property arm of the state government’s Economic Development Queensland.
At Southport, between 2012 and 2018, EDQ oversaw the development of 30 hectares into the 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village precinct.
In total, 1251 units were built in 19 apartment towers to house 6000 athletes in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Today, 17 of the 19 former athletes’ village towers have been transformed, with kitchen facilities added, into modern one-, two- and three-bedroom units that are all rented.
The residential transformation was completed by James Lang LaSalle, which appointed Grocon to do the work, and subsequently enlisted real estate company Smith Collective to rent and manage the new community.
These 17 towers are 80 per cent full. COVID-19 slowed things last year, but it has since bounced back.
Smith Collective general manager Matt Taplin with marketing manager Alex Slingsby. Seventeen of the 19 former Games village apartment towers are now rented at 80 per cent occupancy.CREDIT:TONY MOORE
The concept had two steps.
The first was to renovate the buildings in the athletes’ village, occupying about 16 hectares of the precinct, and then renting the units out. The prices are mid-range.
The second step was maximising the commercial opportunities from the nearby Griffith University and Gold Coast University Hospital.
Smith Collective general manager Matt Taplin said the build-to-rent scheme was popular because, while housing was in demand, “not everybody wants to buy a house”.
“For a lot of people, home ownership does not feature in the future at the moment,” Mr Taplin said.
“Renting has always been a part of what people do when they enter the workforce and from the other side renting is where a lot of people feel comfortable as they approach retirement.
“They free up equity, or perhaps they never had the chance to gain it.”
Renting at Australia’s 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village at Southport
- 1251 apartments in 19 buildings at Village Boulevard at Southport
- The buildings are the former athletes’ rooms but have been transformed
- The rent is $380 for a one-bedroom unit and $420 for a two-bedroom unit
- A three-bedroom townhouse rents for $595
- It is 80 per occupied to employees of nearby Griffith University, Gold Coast University Hospital and the nearby private hospital and some double-income professional couples
- Some university students live in the smaller one-bedroom units
The proximity to Griffith University and the Gold Coast University Hospital plus a private hospital was a drawcard for businesses in the medical and advanced manufacturing areas. This Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct is now the commercial driver.
There are now 14,000 employees and students in the area and the Gold Coast light rail runs to the top of the hill.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games athletes’ recreation rooms are now home to small start-up businesses in a centre called Cohort.
On Cohort’s top floor, a bar during the Games has become an artificial intelligence laboratory.
Here, one small success story is Datarwe, a start-up that provides a data platform for researching patient care. It won a $1.5 million grant from the Queensland government’s Department of Innovation.
Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct business development manager Kathy Kruger described it as a “precision-data medicine platform that looks at all the data that comes out of intensive care units”.
“It de-identifies that data but it uses the cumulative data to predict better outcomes for patients going through intensive care units,” she said.
Hamilton, a suburb about six kilometres north-east of the Brisbane CBD, is firming as the site for the 14,000-bed athletes’ village should Brisbane win the bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games.
The site is on the bank of the Brisbane River, between Hamilton Portside and the Gateway Bridge, and stretches back from the river towards Kingsford Smith Drive.
Vacant land at Hamilton Northshore is an option for the Queensland government to explore as an athletes’ village for the 2032 Summer Olympics.CREDIT:TONY MOORE
A master plan has existed since 2008, showing where high and medium-density residential, open space and mixed-use spaces could be established.
The private sector has built several unit complexes, but there is plenty of space. About 50 hectares is still owned by the Queensland government.
The 2018 Southport athletes’ village could be the model for Hamilton, Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct staff said. The challenge was identifying the commercial driver to transform the site after the Olympic Games.
Brisbane Times asked State Development questions about the Hamilton site and its potential use during and after the Olympics.
In response, the department said: “All Games partners continue to work through the options around the proposed Games masterplan to be submitted as part of Brisbane’s candidature.”
Article Source: www.brisbanetimes.com.au
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