‘Village Heart’ Vision Revealed for Former QUT Campus

The next stage has been unveiled in Economic Development Queensland’s quest to transform a former university campus on Brisbane’s northside into an exemplar mixed-use precinct.

De Luca Corporation has filed plans for the latest piece in the 42ha redevelopment puzzle—a proposed “village heart”.

Significantly, along with a range of retail, commercial and lifestyle uses, it incorporates almost 100 affordable housing units.

The proposal is earmarked for a 1.485ha portion of the former Queensland University of Technology Carseldine campus and is part of the fifth stage of the Carseldine Village urban renewal project on the city’s northside.

Located within the Fitzgibbon Priority Development Area—12km from the Brisbane CBD—the site's redevelopment is a joint venture between the EDQ and the private sector.

In 2016, the Queensland government identified the former campus, which has been closed since 2008, as “under-utilised government land” and slated it for an urban village that has since been capped to provide 606 homes.

The first concrete slabs were poured in 2021 for stage one of the village, a community of net zero energy emission terrace-style homes.

Brisbane-based De Luca Corporation—led by developer Nic De Luca— has teamed with design studio Conrad Gargett to envision the Carseldine Village Heart.

Overall, it includes a two-storey, 5000sq m retail and commercial centre as well as an adjacent eight-storey residential tower comprising 98 affordable housing apartments.

Offering a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units across seven levels above ground-floor retail, the residential component—to be managed by community housing provider National Affordable Housing—is aimed at providing housing options for a range of social and economic demographics.

“The affordable housing component will assist in addressing south-east Queensland’s current housing demand and affordability challenges,” a planning report said.

▲ Renders of the proposed Carseldine Village Heart masterplan.

A core part of the proposal is the creation of a village plaza as “a key link … [and] central meeting and gathering space for Carseldine Village”.

“The Village Heart proposal will comprise a broad mix of uses to provide day to day goods and services (including health, leisure and fitness) to cater to the needs of the residents and workforce of Carseldine Village and the local area,” the report said.

“This broad tenant mix has been determined based on specialist retail analysis of local needs and demand within the catchment, in order to ensure a viable and commercially sustainable development that can be relied upon to service the Carseldine Village over the medium to long term.”

Ground level tenancies would provide cafes and food and drink outlets to bring activation to the village plaza.

According to the report, the proposal “embraces EDQ’s initial vision for the masterplanned precinct”.

“The development of the Village Heart will ensure excellence in design and built form outcomes which will promote the creation of a modern, resilient, and adaptable urban village,” it said.