The Brisbane Inner City Investment
Prospectus
Lord Mayor’s Foreword
Brisbane is Australia’s New World City. Offering proximity to Asia and a progressive and open
business environment, Brisbane has become a city of choice for doing business in the Asia
Pacific region.
We are committed to sustainable economic growth while retaining a lifestyle and culture that is
envied the world over. Our city’s consistently strong economic performance is underpinned by
world-class education institutions, innovative thinkers, skilled workers and a solid commitment to
delivering infrastructure. This provides a strong and competitive business environment that is
conducive to business success. It is this open and stable environment that has attracted a large
number of multinational companies to Brisbane.
In November 2014, Brisbane will host the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders’ Summit, the principal
global forum for international economic cooperation and decision-making. During this event
Brisbane will be the capital city of the world, with leaders from the world’s most influential
economies gathering in our city.
The Brisbane Inner City Investment Prospectus showcases the opportunities for investors and
businesses looking to establish, expand or relocate to Brisbane. The prospectus includes
information on population, business, employment and floor-space forecasts for Brisbane Inner
City. Six supplements have been produced as part of the Brisbane Inner City Investment
Prospectus. Each supplement provides a snapshot of key economic and investment indicators
focusing on one of the six statistical areas that have been identified as key investment locations
within Brisbane Inner City.
The Brisbane Inner City Investment Prospectus brings together information that is relevant to
potential Brisbane investors and businesses. I look forward to welcoming new businesses and
investors to Brisbane, Australia’s New World City.
Graham Quirk
Lord Mayor of Brisbane
July 2014
Invest in Brisbane Inner City
Invest in Brisbane Inner City
Brisbane fast facts
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Brisbane has a strong metropolitan economy valued at $135 billion in 2012.
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Almost 190,000 businesses located in the Brisbane metropolitan area in 2013.
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21.5 million passengers passed through Brisbane Airport in 2013.
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Brisbane has a dynamic mix of globally connected businesses and industries.

The Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) is located less than 20 minutes from
Brisbane Airport.
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More than 50 hotels ranging from budget to boutique and mainstream 5-star are located in
the Brisbane CBD.
Brisbane lifestyle facts

With a subtropical and temperate climate, Brisbane provides the opportunity for locals and
visitors to enjoy an alfresco lifestyle.

Brisbane is home to award-winning restaurants, vibrant nightlife, excellent shopping and
wonderful parks and waterways that can be enjoyed year-round.

The cost of housing in Brisbane is competitive when compared to other Australian capital
cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Wi-Fi hot spots are available throughout the city. Brisbane City Council offers free Wi-Fi
in some of the city’s most popular park and public spaces such as the City Botanic
Gardens, King George Square, Post Office Square, King Edward Park (Jacob’s Ladder),
Queens Street Mall, Reddacliff Place and across the Victoria Bridge to South Bank.
Location
Brisbane Inner City comprises the 14 statistical area level 2s (SA2) of Brisbane City, FairfieldDutton Park, Fortitude Valley, Highgate Hill, Kangaroo Point, Kelvin Grove-Herston, New Farm,
Newstead-Bowen Hills, Paddington-Milton, Red Hill, South Brisbane, Spring Hill, West End and
Woolloongabba.
Brisbane Inner City has a total area of 29.5 km2.
Within Brisbane Inner City there are key investment locations including Brisbane City Centre,
Fortitude Valley, Newstead Bowen Hills, Paddington-Milton, South Brisbane and Woolloongabba.
These six areas are explored in individual investment prospectus supplements that have been
produced to provide specific area information and are included as part of the Brisbane Inner City
Investment Prospectus.
Locality benefits
Brisbane is the closest capital city on the eastern seaboard to Australia’s three largest export
markets – China, Japan and South Korea. The city is ideally located to attract global business,
with a similar time zone to the major trading nations of South East Asia.
Brisbane also has excellent access to major air and sea ports.
Brisbane Airport is conveniently located less than 20 minutes and 12 kilometres from the city
centre. In the 2013 financial year, 21.5 million passengers were recorded as passing through the
airport. Already a world-class facility, the airport precinct will be expanded over the next two
decades with the construction of a new parallel runway, expansion of the domestic terminal and
development of aviation-related industry precincts.
The Port of Brisbane is one of Australia’s fastest-growing container ports and Queensland’s
largest general cargo port. Located at the mouth of the Brisbane River, the facility is a driver of
economic growth throughout South East Queensland. Key commodities traded through the Port
of Brisbane include oil (crude and refined), coal exports and motor vehicle imports. The Port of
Brisbane is also Australia’s largest exporter of cotton and meat.
Brisbane’s international connections through Council’s sister cities program enable networking
with other leading global cities. Brisbane’s sister cities are Kobe, Auckland, Shenzhen,
Semarang, Kaohsiung, Daejeon, Chongqing, Abu Dhabi and Hyderabad.
Competitive business costs
Payroll tax
Queensland’s payroll tax rate of 4.75% is the lowest in Australia and the payroll tax threshold is
the highest in Australia.
Corporate tax
The Australian corporate tax rate is 30%, which is very competitive internationally.
Population and growth projections
The Brisbane Inner City population is expected to increase by 87,721 people from 2011 to 2036.
The Brisbane Inner City population can be characterised as well-educated, high-income earners
that mainly consist of couple families with no children that reside in apartments.
The average annual growth rate for Brisbane Inner City is forecast to be 2.5% over the next 25
years, which is higher than the forecast rate for Greater Brisbane (greater capital city statistical
area).
Fifty-eight per cent of households in Brisbane Inner City do not have children, see Figure 2, which
is significantly different to the household composition across Greater Brisbane where almost two
thirds of households have children.
Brisbane Inner City dwellings are characterised by significantly greater density than other areas
of Brisbane. This is highlighted in Figure 3 that shows only one-third of occupied private dwellings
recorded on Census night 2011 were detached dwellings. There is a significantly low level of
owner-occupied private dwellings. More than half of private dwellings are rented, which is
significantly higher than for Greater Brisbane.
Brisbane Inner City residents are well-educated with 61,668 persons aged 15 years and over
(70.4%) having a qualification. In comparison, the proportion for Greater Brisbane is 56%.
Brisbane Inner City has a greater proportion of residents who earn high personal weekly income
compared to Greater Brisbane. At the time of the 2011 Census, Brisbane Inner City had 11,006
residents aged 15 years and over who stated their total personal weekly income was $2000 or
more. In addition, 22,320 residents aged 15 years and over reported total personal income
between $1000 to $1999 per week.
Brisbane Inner City residents are employed across a wide variety of occupations. The top-three
occupations of residents identified in the 2011 Census were Professionals, Managers and
Clerical and administrative workers. The occupation profile of Brisbane Inner City is illustrated in
Figure 4.
In the 2011 Census, 31,977 Brisbane Inner City residents reported they were born overseas.
20,265 people born overseas were born in non-English speaking countries. Of the overseas-born
persons in Brisbane Inner City, less than half stated they spoke English only. Forty-four per cent
stated they spoke another language at home however still spoke English very well or well.
In Brisbane Inner City 31,977 people reported they were born overseas in the 2011 Census.
20,265 people born overseas were born in non-English speaking background countries. Of the
overseas-born persons in Brisbane Inner City, less than half stated they spoke English only.
Forty-four per cent stated they spoke another language at home however still spoke English very
well or well.
Employment forecasts
Employment in Brisbane Inner City is forecast to reach 467,197 people by 2031, a growth of
160,754 people (52%) from 306,443 people in 2011.
The top-five employing industries in Brisbane Inner City in Figure 6 will contribute over 60% of
total employment growth.
Workers in Brisbane Inner City commute from various locations. The top-five locations that
workers live are Hills District, Coorparoo, The Gap, Ashgrove and Morningside-Seven Hills. The
journey to work profile for the Brisbane Inner City is illustrated in Figure 7.
Businesses
In 2013, 27,843 businesses were registered in Brisbane Inner City. The majority of these
businesses employ less than 20 workers or are non-employing businesses. In 2013 the Finance
and insurance industry had the largest number of businesses in Brisbane Inner City. Other
industries strongly represented in the business count included Professional, scientific and
technical services and Rental, hiring and real estate services. The top-10 industries by business
count in Brisbane Inner City are illustrated in Figure 8.
The representation of an industry’s share within Brisbane Inner City, relative to Greater Brisbane
is referred to as a ‘specialisation ratio’. The highest specialisation ratios in Brisbane Inner City
occurred in the industries of Mining, Financial and insurance services and Information media and
telecommunications.
In 2013, the business profile of Brisbane Inner City included 26,686 small businesses, 1090
medium businesses and 67 large businesses defined by employment size (see Figure 9). Within
Brisbane Inner City, the majority of large businesses are located in Brisbane City and Fortitude
Valley.
Businesses are also classified by turnover range. The profile of Brisbane Inner City businesses
by turnover range is illustrated in Figure 10. Notably there is a larger percentage of businesses
within the Brisbane Inner City who reported high turnover in comparison to businesses across
Greater Brisbane.
Growth in floor area
Floor space in Brisbane Inner City supports a variety of different uses. The table below illustrates
the 2011 estimates of floor space as well as the forecasts to 2031 in five year increments. The
forecasts clearly illustrate the significant increase in floor space that is expected across Brisbane
Inner City in coming years.
Table 1 – Floor space forecasts Brisbane Inner City, 2011-2031
Brisbane Inner City
2011 floor
space
estimate
(m2)
2016 floor
space
forecast
(m2)
2021 floor
space
forecast
(m2)
2026 floor
space
forecast
(m2)
2031 floor
space
forecast
(m2)
Retail
2,834,987
3,315,512
3,538,902
3,741,833
3,891,341
Commercial
2,843,713
3,233,106
3,492,525
3,680,677
3,863,487
Industrial
2,229,006
2,486,639
2,536,099
2,558,389
2,592,931
Community purpose
5,590,005
6,723,317
7,863,157
9,007,870
10,151,281
Other
158,337
154,721
149,844
144,698
140,481
Total
13,656,048
15,913,294
17,580,527
19,133,467
20,639,520
Source: Derived from Queensland Government, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Employment Projections converted to floor space by Brisbane City Council.
Building and development activity
Brisbane Inner City is currently seeing significant projects across all building classes. The
apartment market for the inner city had a record year in 2013, with 58 new development
applications lodged, which potentially could result in more than 20,000 apartments for Brisbane
Inner City.
Hotel investments are also at unprecedented levels. In the year to date, four new hotels have
opened — Four Points by Sheraton in the Central Business District (CBD), Gambaro Hotel in
Paddington, Alpha Mosaic Brisbane Hotel in Fortitude Valley and TRYP Fortitude Valley Hotel.
These projects have added more than 400 hotel rooms to the city.
SilverNeedle Hospitality is currently refurbishing and extending the Brisbane Chifley Hotel for a
spring 2014 opening. Rebranding the hotel as the world’s first NEXT Hotel, the site will be
expanded from 150 rooms to 300 rooms, making it one of the largest, recent hotel repositioning
projects in Australia.
Construction of the Meriton Serviced Apartments on Herschel Street was completed in May 2014.
The 81-level tower accommodates 431 serviced apartments. Japanese developer Daisho Group
has begun construction of a $300 million office tower at 180 Ann Street, which is scheduled for
completion mid-2015. To be known as 180 Brisbane, the 34-storey tower will deliver more than
59,000 square metres of A-grade commercial floor space to the market.
The Shayer Group development at the former law courts site on George Street is a mixed-use
redevelopment, creating three separate towers set above a podium of three storeys. The
development will include a 32-storey, 21,172 square metre hotel tower, an 82-storey, 68,781
square metre residential tower and a 39-storey, 58,209 square metre office tower. The podium’s
17,368 square meters of floor space will be occupied by retail development and hotel-related
uses.
Brisbane hotel market
The Brisbane hotel market has five main precinct-related sub-markets — the CBD, Kangaroo
Point, Fortitude Valley, South Brisbane and Spring Hill. The Brisbane Inner City hotel market —
which includes serviced apartments — has experienced strong growth since the Global Financial
Crisis, with steady and consistent increases in room rates and occupancy. In 2013, the city
witnessed weaker trading conditions, but maintained a relatively modest occupancy rate of
77.4%. Historical occupancy rates, average daily rates (ADR) and revenue per available room
(RevPAR) for Brisbane are illustrated in Figure 11.
Brisbane office market
In January 2014, total stock in the office market for the Brisbane CBD and fringe was more than
3.3 million square metres. The Brisbane fringe is defined as the area immediately surrounding the
CBD and includes the suburbs of Spring Hill, Milton, Toowong, New Farm, Teneriffe, Fortitude
Valley, Bowen Hills, Newstead, West End, South Brisbane, Greenslopes, Woolloongabba, East
Brisbane and Kangaroo Point. Office stock has steadily increased over the past two decades,
especially since 2008 when vacancy rates were at their lowest levels. Vacancy rates for the CBD
and fringe were 14.2% and 12.7% respectively in January 2014. The office market stock and
vacancy rates for the CBD and fringe are illustrated in Figure 12 and Figure 13.
Transport
Brisbane Inner City is well serviced by public transport, ensuring the effective movement of
workers into and within the inner city. There are 7394 bus services per day into the CBD and 536
trains per day through Brisbane’s Central Station. Brisbane Inner City is also serviced by CityCat
and ferry services. Regular CityCat services run every 13 minutes with additional services at
peak times.
Active travel infrastructure is also an integral part of Brisbane’s transport system. Well connected
with bikeways and pedestrian paths, an increasing number of workers are choosing to
incorporate active travel into their daily commute. Brisbane City Council and the Queensland
Government jointly funded the construction of a cycle centre as part of King George Square
Station. This is Australia’s first major end-of-trip facility for cyclists and pedestrians using active
transport to the Brisbane CBD.
Who else is here
Brisbane provides a number of strategic competitive advantages which have attracted large
multinationals to Brisbane.
Brisbane businesses
Business, legal and real estate services

Aon Services

BDO

CBRE

Clayton Utz

Colliers International
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Deloitte

King & Wood Mallesons

Knight Frank
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KPMG
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Minter Ellison
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PwC
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Savills
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SMS Employees
Engineering consultancy

AECOM

AMEC

ARUP

Aurecon
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Ausenco
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Beca
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Bechtel
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Downer EDI
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GHD
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Golder Associates
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Hatch
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Hydra Consulting
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Jacobs E&C Australia
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MWH Consulting
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Parsons Brinkerhoff
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RPS Group
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URS

Worley Parsons
Computer systems and IT

CSG International

Ericsson

IBM Australia
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Microsoft
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TechnologyOne

Ventyx (an ABB Group Company)
Aviation

Boeing Defence
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Qantas Airways
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Virgin Airlines Australia
Mining and resources

Anglo American Metallurgical Coal
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Arrow Energy
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BG Group – (QGC Pty Ltd – A BG Group Co)
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BHP Billiton
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Ensham Resources

GVK-Hancock Coal

Origin Energy

Peabody

Rio Tinto Aluminium

Rio Tinto Energy

Santos Ltd
Banking

ANZ

BOQ

Commonwealth Bank

NAB

QSuper

Queensland Investment Corporation

Suncorp

Sunsuper

Westpac
Other

Echo Entertainment

Flight Centre

Sucrogen Australia (agriculture)

Transpacific

Virgin Holdings

Wotif
Business links and information
Business links
www.brisbane.qld.gov.au - Search “Doing business in Brisbane”, for development assessment,
permits, licences (e.g. food and advertising), parking, signage, economic development and
general enquiries.
www.investbrisbane.com.au - Brisbane Marketing’s Investment Attraction team offers a range of
free strategic services to assist investors.
www.business.gov.au - Australian Government’s business website provides information on
planning, starting and growing your business. This website provides a number of templates and
how to guides for download to help guide your business.
www.business.qld.gov.au - Queensland Government’s business website. Provides similar
information to the Australian Government website.
https://ablis.business.gov.au - Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS).
ABLIS helps you find government licences, permits, approvals, registrations, codes of practice,
standards and guidelines you need to know about to meet your compliance responsibilities.
www.ato.gov.au/businesses - Provides information about tax issues, tax basics for small
business, superannuation, record keeping and your obligations as a business.
Census, statistics and community profiles
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/communityprofiles - Brisbane Community Profiles provide detailed
statistical information for Brisbane. Profiles are generated automatically using the latest
demographic, social and economic data available.
www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/quickstats - QuickStats is a simple, quick
summary of Census statistics for your selected area.
E-commerce and digital marketing
www.digitalbrisbane.com.au - Outlines the Digital Brisbane strategy that is being delivered by
Brisbane Marketing and outlines programs and initiatives to assist businesses.
www.nbndigitalenterprise.com.au/program - Digital Enterprise Program provides training
workshops as well as one-on-one advice on how participants can use the National Broadband
Network (NBN) to make greater use of online opportunities.
www.digitalbusiness.gov.au - Australian Government website designed as a resource for small
business and community organisations that want to learn more about the benefits of an online
presence and how to go about developing one.
www.winningbusinessonline.com.au - Australian Government funded initiative to assist small
business owners grow their business and make the most of the internet.
Grants
www.grantslink.gov.au - A government website listing all state and federal Government grants
currently available.
Publication information
To receive up-to-date information to help grow your business subscribe to Economic
Development updates by emailing economic_development@brisbane.qld.gov.au
To have this information translated, call 131 450 and ask to speak to Brisbane City Council on 07
3403 8888.
Published by Brisbane City Council, GPO Box 1434, Brisbane QLD 4001
For more information:
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visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/citycentremasterplan
visit www.Facebook.com/BrisbaneCityCouncil
call 07 3403 8888
Tweet Council @brisbanecityqld
Publication number CA14-663716-03-409 © Brisbane City Council 2014.