29 Nov 2023
Words John Miller Informer 109

Game On

Brisbane is primed for a golden era of development leading up to the 2032 Olympics. Two titans of Queensland’s building and construction industry share their views on what the Games will mean for Australia’s third largest city.

 
Left: Jack Hutchinson Jnr, Director - Hutchinson Builders
Right: Don O'Rorke, CEO & Chairman - Consolidated Properties Group

Between them, Queensland giants Hutchinson Builders and Consolidated Properties Group have 155 years’ experience in the building and construction space. Today, they are major national players, but both remain headquartered in Brisbane having made their start there; Hutchinson as a builder in 1912, Consolidated as a developer in 1979. Since their respective inceptions, both companies have been instrumental in developing the River City’s urban landscape into what it is today. So, we can’t think of anyone better placed to provide us with a long view of what the Olympics will mean for Brisbane’s evolving story, as well as the hurdles the city may encounter in the race to get ready for the starting pistol on 23 July 2032. 

Hutchinson and Consolidated are something of a pair. They are entirely independent but enjoy a longstanding business relationship born from the close friendship between their two respective chairmen, Scott Hutchinson of Hutchinson and Don O’Rorke of Consolidated, who went through Brisbane Boys’ College together. O’Rorke describes their developer/builder relationship as “hand in glove,” though he says neither he nor Hutchinson want to be what the other is. 

The latest iteration of their collaboration is Monarch Residences, a $450 million luxury apartment project that Consolidated is developing and Hutchinson is building. The two-tower precinct occupies a 1.2 ha site with 130 metres of premium river frontage at Toowong, just west of downtown Brisbane. The development has proved hugely popular among wealthy western suburbs downsizers, with over 170 of the 244 apartments having sold off the plan for a development that only broke ground in May and is scheduled for completion in late 2025.

Monarch Residences’ website is spruiking the development  as “150 years in the making” on account of Middenbury House,  a stately heritage-listed home dating from 1865 that will be repurposed as a restaurant around which the residential precinct will  be built.

Maintaining a sense of history is not only at the heart of Monarch, but also at the heart of O’Rorke who spoke about honouring the past at the development’s breaking ground ceremony. It’s within this broad historical framework that O’Rorke offers his perspective on the Olympics’ future impact on Brisbane.

“I think the Olympics will be the next inflection point in Brisbane’s history,” he says. “The three previous inflection points after World War II were Expo [in 1988], the Commonwealth Games [in 1982], and, completely differently, [Brisbane Lord Mayor] Clem Jones sewering the city [from the 1960s through to the 1980s].

“The Olympics will be the next inflection point in Brisbane’s history.”

“They were important inflection points in Brisbane’s growth and we’re heading to being a world city now, one that’s equal but different to Sydney and Melbourne.”

Brisbane has long been derided by residents of its two larger southern rivals, as well as some of its own residents, as a “big country town.” Both cities have already hosted  the Olympics. Melbourne, long ago, in 1956; Sydney, more recently, in 2000. O’Rorke suggests it’s high time Australia’s next Olympic city sheds its inferiority complex and emerges from their shadow. 

“For too long, we’ve measured ourselves in relation to those two cities,” says the 62-year-old. “We’re no longer talking about Brisbane as relative to Sydney and Melbourne. We now measure ourselves as a city that’s part of the Asia-Pacific region. We’re a really good alternative to Sydney and Melbourne. 

MONARCH RESIDENCES
  

“Those who migrate to Brisbane can buy a house that will cost 70 per cent of what they’re selling out of in Sydney or Melbourne. And the sky is blue, living costs are lower, there’s a thriving restaurant and cultural scene and it’s much easier to get around. It’s a good place to be.”

“Brisbane is on the up psychologically compared to Melbourne.” 

“The Olympics is taking the city forward even more,” he adds. “We’re already experiencing unprecedented interstate migration, with tens of thousands  of new residents moving here.  The Olympics is one of the reasons they’re coming. But it’s also climate, job opportunities, and because Melbourne, and Sydney to a lesser extent, was so bad during Covid.

“Sydney is probably tracking as it has always tracked. But Melbourne is a different city to what it was pre-Covid. Brisbane’s Lord Mayor talks about Melbourne today as a defeated city. That’s been reinforced by them walking away from the Commonwealth Games. Look at that in comparison to Brisbane. Melbourne, lose Commonwealth Games. Brisbane, win Olympics. We also enjoyed a lot of freedom during Covid compared to Melbourne’s terrible lockdown, the second worst in the world. Brisbane is on the up psychologically, as well as in terms of population and economic growth. All our markers are on the way up. Melbourne’s are largely on the way down.”

Jack Hutchinson Jnr agrees it’s time Brisbane buries its reputation as a big country town once and for all.

Yeerongpilly Green
  

“Brisbane has good energy,” he says. “It’s a legitimate city now. It’s got a different atmosphere to Sydney and Melbourne, and it’s got a lot of things going for it that those cities don’t.” 

Hutchinson is the fifth generation of the family business, which was founded by his namesake John “Jack” Hutchinson, an expatriate Englishman who migrated to Brisbane in 1911. Now a director, Hutchinson is set to succeed the chairmanship of the company when his father, Scott Hutchinson, eventually retires. The 31-year-old brings a youthful perspective in terms of how he sees Brisbane, as well as the perspective of distance, having recently spent two years abroad completing an MBA at London Business School, returning to Brisbane in 2019. 

“While I was in London, Hutchies built Howard Smith Wharves, so coming back there was a whole new restaurant and leisure precinct. Then you’ve got Queen’s Wharf, which is going to add that sort of ritzy casino element that Melbourne has in Crown and Sydney has in Barangaroo. I’m sure Brisbane will be fantastic for the Olympics and I’m sure the Olympics will benefit the city. It will certainly change people’s perception of Brisbane. I’ve always thought Brisbane is a fantastic city, and it's only going to get better. I don’t have nerves around how the Olympics will go. I’m sure it will be fantastic and I’m sure people will come away saying Brisbane nailed it.” 

“Brisbane has good energy. It’s a legitimate city now.”

While Hutchinson has no concerns Brisbane will deliver an exceptional Olympic Games, he is apprehensive about the tight building timeline, even with nine years to run.

“There’s heaps of time, there’s nine years, it shouldn’t be an issue, it’s just that the building and construction industry is already under pressure,” he says. END