Ignore the Press: Brisbane on the Cusp of a Once-in-a-Generation Boom in Infrastructure Investment
In a recent interview with Sky News, Brisbane-based property developer and media entrepreneur Adam Di Marco made a compelling case for the city’s future prospects.
“Get in early” the founder and publisher of The Urban Developer said.
With an unprecedented amount of infrastructure projects currently underway, including Queen’s Wharf, Howard Smith Wharves and the Brisbane Airport duplication, Di Marco called upon the industry to look beyond the traditional media headlines and think about the longer-term prospects for the region.
“Invest for your children and grandchildren” Adam told Sky News hosts, former Queensland Premiers Peter Beattie and Campbell Newman.
“You need to look at the scale of infrastructure projects currently underway and think about how these will impact the city and your investment.”
He cited a recent survey, undertaken by The Urban Developer, that captured the sentiment of the industry as evidence that the underlying attitudes towards development in the city were vastly different from what was reported in the traditional press.
With over 1,000 respondents, industry confidence was tracking at or above long-term averages.
“We have over two-thirds of the residential development sector reporting that they are either very optimistic or optimistic about the outlook for the sector.”
“For retail and commercial, the numbers are fairly similar” he said.
The prospects for the residential property market were also likely to be impacted by the scale of construction activity required to deliver these major projects.
“During construction alone, Echo’s Queen’s Wharf development will generate 2,000 jobs. After the project is completed in 2022, an additional 8,000 employees will be required to run the operation.”
According to Di Marco, these projects are unprecedented for the Queensland capital and will create a new wave of economic activity, tourism and investment.
“We’re on the cusp of something big.”
