The historic former City View Hotel in south-west Brisbane is on offer with vacant land and a concept plan for an added motel development.
The City View is a striking 118-year-old two-storey Federation-era brick structure on a high-profile 594sqm site on arterial Brisbane Street, on the corner of Burnett.
It features classic verandas and a distinctive octagonal corner tower that resolves the issue of a sharp triangular corner on the block, shaped by the 1875 railway cutting. Inside the hotel are pressed metal ceilings, stained glass windows and a grand timber stairway with balustrade.
In the 1980s a west‑end beer garden was added at the rear.
Late 1992 the hotel was added to the Queensland Heritage Register, recognised for its intact Federation‑era form, landmark corner setting and link to its architect.
But in 2014, in the wake of drink‑driving enforcement, anti‑smoking laws and tough times, falling patronage led to the public bar and restaurant closing.
Two years later the property was sold for $770,000 and soon reopened as backpacker accommodation, which has been maintained ever since, generating approximately $300,000 net income annually.
Total floor area amounts to 900sqm, with street level including a reception, a commercial kitchen, amenities including showers and five bedrooms, with the potential to add more. The upper level has another 14 bedrooms and amenities, and is also said to have potential to increase the number of rooms.
Next door, at 277A Brisbane St, is a vacant 850m2 site Zoned Principal Centre, for a total landholding of 1,444sqm.
Concept plans exist for 40 motel rooms on the plot to complement the hotel.
The busy corner is close to local demand drivers, including retail and schools, as well as Ipswich Hospital and the train station, and Hilton and Ipswich Hotel Group P/L recently reached an agreement to deliver a new $53 million 160-room Hilton Garden Inn, nearby, in the Ipswich city centre.
Queensland media is heralding Ipswich as the ‘next Parramatta’ as the precinct ramps up efforts to lure industry and evolve the area into a hub for factory, defence manufacturing and distribution businesses.
The private owners of the freehold have engaged First National Commercial’s Hiep Nguyen on a sale campaign with hopes of $2.6 million.
“The Hotel was built in 1908 and was designed by renowned architect Brockwell Gill,” says Nguyen.
“This iconic two-storey heritage-listed building has special characteristics of a Federation-era provincial hotel.”
