A fire on the morning of 2 September damaged a historic Brisbane hotel that was recently the subject of a proposal for a 27-storey skyscraper.
The hotel, in Woolloongabba, has stood empty since it was closed by another fire eight years ago. Built in 1889 to provide luxurious accommodation for visitors from out of town, the hotel was designed by John Hall and Son in the elaborate late-Victorian Queen Anne Revival style. It has remained vacant since a fire ripped through it in July 2010.
The Brisbane Times reported that the police had declared the site a crime scene and that the fire was being treated as “suspicious.”
Police are investigating a fire that destroyed an unoccupied former licensed premises in Woolloongabba early this morning. pic.twitter.com/NCaUwStRQJ
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) September 1, 2018
A proposal was lodged by developer Majella Property Developments in March 2017 that would have refurbished the hotel and added a 27-storey residential tower designed by Hayes Anderson Lynch Architects. The form and geometric facade of the building referenced the shape of the hotel’s turrets.
Broadway, Woolloongabba, designed by Hayes Anderson Lynch Architects.
Image: Hayes Anderson Lynch Architects
The developers withdrew the proposal in July. The council did not support the proposed height of the tower, while public submissions raised concerns over demolition of parts of the hotel, including World War II bunkers on the site. One submission described the tower as having a “bulky, greedy” appearance.
Several months after Majella Property submitted the development application, another fire burnt through the hotel. The developer’s request to carry out emergency works on the hotel, was approved by the council in September 2017. The council also directed the developer to secure and waterproof the site.
The chief executive of the company Seb Monsour, who was has been embattled by charges of fraud totaling $10 million, is the brother-in-law of former Queensland premier Campbell Newman.
In a series of tweets, Queensland deputy premier and member for South Brisbane Jackie Trad also called the fire “suspicious” and said that Brisbane City Council should “urgently amend their local planning scheme to ensure reconstruction and restoration of the Broadway Hotel is a clear and mandatory requirement for any future development of the site.”
(1/4) Like so many people who grew up in BNE, I had a lot of memories at the Broadway Hotel.
— Jackie Trad (@jackietrad) September 3, 2018
Sadly, as you may already know, it was recently burned to the ground.
To be frank, I’m tired of hearing about these ‘suspicious fires’ & then seeing a major development roll in #qldpol
Trad also announced called for members of the public to sign a petition urging Brisbane City Council to implement these restrictions. The petition can be found here.
