Multiplex opens Brisbane Cruise gateway

Brisbane yesterday unveiled its newest gateway to the world as diversified property group Multiplex officially launched its $750 million Portside Wharf and Brisbane Cruise Terminal development on the river at Hamilton.

The first official liner to use the new facility, P&O’s Pacific Star, docked at Portside Wharf yesterday morning. Another 48 liners are due to berth in the next 12 months, four times the number that visited Brisbane in 2003, when the development commenced.

Multiplex Developments Australia director Shane Bulloch said the much anticipated cruise terminal was expected to deliver over 200,000 passengers to Brisbane each year as well as providing berths for several multi-million dollar “super yachts at once.

“For decades Brisbane has struggled to attract cruise liners because passengers were forced to disembark at cargo berths at Murarrie or Pinkenbah,” Mr Bulloch said.

Multiplex has now delivered this state-of-the art terminal on a beautiful stretch of the Brisbane River at Hamilton with city views and we are now being inundated with booking enquiries from cruise operators.”

Mr Bulloch said the cruise industry recognised Brisbane was the gateway to Queensland’s iconic tourist destinations of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast as well as the perfect stepping stone for cruise ships travelling between The Whitsundays and Sydney.

“They also see Brisbane as a modern, contemporary sub-tropical city with its own rich heritage that will appeal to international visitors,” he said.

It is expected cruise ships will use the Portside Wharf cruise terminal for around 60 days each year with the terminal providing transit, base-port and turnaround services for up to 2,800 passengers with associated in-bound tour operators.

Portside Wharf is estimated to have injected $129 million into the local economy with a recurring contribution of around $53 million per annum to tourism, retail and services industries.

Mr Bulloch said the home of the cruise terminal, Portside Wharf, would become a tourism, retail and leisure destination in its own right with prestige dining outlets and residential apartments.

“International and interstate visitors to Brisbane will now be greeted by the best the city has to offer – 7500sqm of retail space including restaurants, cafes, a wellness centre, cinemas and a premium function centre as well as Brisbane’s largest upmarket fresh food marketplace,” Mr Bulloch said.

“Portside Wharf also boasts Brisbane’s first international riverfront residential precinct with Flare, Loft and Infinity riverside apartments ranging in price from $365,000 to $5 million.”

Mr Bulloch said the Portside Wharf project had provided benefits across each of Multiplex Group’s operating divisions.

“This is another very good example of the Multiplex Group integrated property model at work,” he said.

“In the first instance, the Development and Construction divisions continue to demonstrate their ability to deliver landmark projects on program and securely leased.

“Further, Multiplex Facilities Management will provide property and facilities management services to the Brisbane Cruise Terminal, the retail precinct and the development’s shared services, ensuring high service levels to users, tenants and the owner.” Multiplex will also retain ownership of the facility.

The terminal will be able to service at least 95 per cent of the cruise ship fleet operating in the Asia/Pacific region with cruise ships having an airdraft up to a maximum 56.4m being able to pass under Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge, a higher clearance than the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Portside Wharf can accommodate ships up to 270m including international and domestic vessels across the cruise ship spectrum from small expedition ships to panamax-size vessels like P&O’s ‘Aurora’, ‘Star Cruises’, ‘SuperStar Leo’ and RCI’s ‘Legend of the Seas’.

  

The purpose-designed and built facility, the first of its kind in Queensland, has been modelled on a range of successful cruise terminals around the world, including Barcelona, Havana, Vancouver, Miami and Auckland.