Salter Brothers Pitch Garden City Apartment Tower

Salter Brothers plan to hive off an at-grade carpark at its Garden City hotel to make way for an 18-storey apartment tower with “undulating petals”. 

The Bates Smart-designed building would accommodate 101 two-bedroom apartments, rooftop pool and amenities, and parking for the neighbouring Mercure Hotel and a childcare centre, as well as residents. 

Plans filed with the Brisbane City Council call for the subdivision of the 5356sq m site at 18 McGregor Street, Upper Mt Gravatt, next door to the Westfield Mt Gravatt shopping centre. 

The four-storey podium will comprise parking and a childcare centre, with apartments across levels 5 to 17. 

According to Bates Smart’s architectural report, the project has been designed to create permeable, naturally ventilated balconies for what it describes as a “landmark development for the next generation of suburban living”. 

“Facade articulation responds specifically to the building’s location and the area’s cultural heritage,” the report said. 

▲ More than 100 apartments will rise above the four-storey podium under the proposal. Render: Bates Smart

“A four-storey podium is proposed fronting MacGregor Street … the podium seeks to define the street edge in place of the at grade carpark, while also mediating the scales of the new development with the existing hotel and adjacent context.

“Within the tower, all individual apartments are expressed as gently undulating petals.”

The tower would also comprise a pool, gym and barbecue area on the rooftop.

The Mercure Garden City transacted as part of a 10-hotel portfolio in a $620-million Travelodge portfolio divestment in 2022.

The portfolio has been repositioned under the Salter Brothers management and the funds manager would look to realise development uplift for its Garden City asset. 

The Melbourne-based firm is an advisor and private wealth and funds management business with diverse assets that range from equities and private credit to residential and childcare real estate. 

But most important for Salter Brothers is hotels—it has 35 in Australia, worth an estimated $2 billion, and manages more than $3 billion in assets overall.