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After putting Brisbane’s first Mövenpick hotel on ice last year, private developer Keylin has now scrapped plans for a proposed second stage of the mixed-use development despite securing a near sell-out of apartments.
Keylin, a Brisbane developer that last week progressed plans for a $1.5 billion medical precinct at Coomera on the Gold Coast, has blamed a ‘volatile’ construction sector for its decision to abandon the Oria apartment project, the second stage of the development planned for the inner suburb of Spring Hill.
“Australia’s construction sector remains unstable and, despite our best efforts and rigorous tender processes, we have been unable to secure a contractor to deliver Oria,” says Keylin’s managing director Louis Cheung.
“As a result, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to not proceed with Oria Spring Hill. It goes without saying that we are deeply saddened.”
The decision to step away from the project was made despite Keylin securing buyers for 80 per cent of apartments at Oria.
“Our project team has worked tirelessly to mitigate risks wherever possible,” Cheung says. “However, Australia’s construction sector is too volatile in the current market and the multi-storey residential sector is the most heavily impacted."
Keylin has no immediate plans to sell the 3,700sqm site upon which it had planned the twin-tower development. The company says it will revisit the proposal once market conditions ‘support the feasible delivery of premium projects’.
Keylin first announced plans for the site in 2021 with the announcement that Accor planned to open Brisbane’s first Mövenpick Hotel by 2024. The 96-room hotel would have been the third in Australia for the Switzerland-based Mövenpick brand, which operates in Melbourne and Hobart.
Keylin announced in November last year it was not proceeding with the hotel as Cheung at the time blamed the challenging construction sector for the company's decision to abandon the project.
Oria was to have comprised 121 apartments offering commanding views across the CBD and north to the Victoria Parklands.
"All purchasers have been personally informed and full deposits will be returned,” Cheung says.
Despite the setback, Keylin is pressing ahead with its development portfolio which includes the $1.5 billion Foxwell Coomera master plan on the northern Gold Coast, as well as residential developments in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast - largely comprised of land releases.
Keylin, in partnership with fellow Brisbne developer Kinstone Group, lodged a revised development application for its proposed Coomera medical precinct which altered the original proposal from a 400-room private hospital to a day surgery. The proposed development is located close to the Queensland Government's proposed new 404-room public hospital for the northern Gold Coast.
Keylin and Kinstone also are the companies behind the $650 million Serenity 4212 master planned community at Helensvale. The waterfront development, which borders Hope Island and was originally known as Serenity Cove, was acquired by Keylin from Malaysian development giants Sime Darby and Brunsfield in 2019 for $50 million.
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