Former Olympian's vision: hotel, apartments and Olympic precinct planned for Brisbane riverfront

A Brisbane developer is moving to redevelop a soon-to-close industrial site on the city's riverfront into a hotel, residential towers and an Olympic entertainment hub, in what its backers are calling a generational opportunity for the inner city.

Stockwell has acquired the Lactalis Australia Parmalat milk-processing facility on Montague Road, South Brisbane, with plans for a three-stage development encompassing a 400-room hotel, owner-occupied housing and a built-to-rent apartment building offering one and two-bedroom dwellings.

Stockwell managing director and former Olympic swimmer Mark Stockwell described the project as a rare chance to reshape a key riverside precinct.

"When you get a site that's so well connected and can become part of the city it's a great legacy piece to think about," he told the ABC. "This area has had its time as the industrial area, and it's now [time] to actually think about what's going to happen in the next hundred years."

Stockwell said he believed the five-hectare site near the Visy glass factory and within the newly designated Montague Road Provisional Priority Development Area, represented a "one in a 100-year opportunity" for a mixed-use development.

Drawing on his experience at South Bank, Stockwell said the precinct's success would depend on striking the right balance of uses.

"I think we've learned a lot of lessons by being involved in South Bank over the years, where you've got to have this mix of residential, places where people work, entertainment and restaurants," he said. "We just want to take it to the next level and build on what we've been doing."

A highlight of the proposal is an entertainment strip below the rail line that Stockwell has branded "The Beer Mile" — a curated stretch of bars, taprooms and hospitality venues intended to animate the riverfront.

With the 2032 Olympics now firmly in view, Stockwell said the precinct's design has been shaped with the Games in mind, envisioning the site as a hub for fans during the event.
"We want this to be a party area, for it to be an entertainment area and an area that can have 100,000 Brisbane mums and dads and kids that [can] come here and can be part of that Olympic experience," he said.

Stockwell also told the ABC he envisioned a riverside parkland featuring a "walk of champions" inspired by a similar activation at the Paris Olympics. The walk offers fans the chance to engage with athletes in a public setting. The site could also accommodate temporary facilities and live sites during the Games, with Stockwell flagging the possibility of hosting speed climbing and skating events.

"We'll have a couple of hectares that could be used as temporary facilities and entertainment and live sites for the Olympics," he said.

Full development of the site is expected to take up to 15 years. A development application for the first stage, which is focused on owner-occupier housing, has already been lodged.

The site's inclusion in the Montague Road Provisional Priority Development Area means planning applications will be assessed by Economic Development Queensland rather than Brisbane City Council, a mechanism the state government says will accelerate housing delivery near jobs and transport links.

Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki acknowledged the broader Olympics opportunity, noting there were "opportunities for everyone to get involved" in the Games alongside the government's existing venues plan. Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the prospect of inner-city renewal, while Opposition Leader Steven Miles said new housing was "ultimately what Queenslanders need."

Jonathan Jackson, 10^th June 2026