Rivermakers is a 30 hectare riverside site in Morningside. It is designed for makers and to meet contemporary industry needs, with manufacturing, office and related retail co-located. Rivermakers is a combination of three precincts:

Precinct 1 -The Depot: a mixed industrial and retail precinct servicing the local community on Lytton Road. This precinct is already partly operational and features a McDonalds, Ampol Service Station, World’s Biggest Garage Sale and food and drink outlets. DA approval will allow a gym and large format showrooms to open.

Precinct 2 – Mixed Business and Industry Precinct: the biggest precinct in the estate. Approval of the DA will allow business to co-locate their office and industrial premises, increasing productivity and the size of the workforce and attracting significant businesses with a highly skilled workforce to Brisbane.

Precinct 3 – Heritage Quarter: a high-quality food and beverage destination for surrounding businesses and the local community, based in the heritage buildings on site. Heritage Quarter combines industrial uses like coffee roasting, microbrewing, distilling, ceramics manufacturing and food processing with a retail component, allowing people to buy from the source. Venues include Revel Brewing Co, Mas & Miek ceramic workshop and Bavay Distillery & Bar.

Neither the site nor the access were affected by the recent floods.

The DA is requesting changes to the land use regulations that determine the activities that can be undertaken on the Rivermakers site. In essence, Rivermakers have requested the ability for businesses to co-locate two parts of their operations – for example production and retail, or retail and warehousing. An example of this is an organisation with a warehouse and head office being able to centralise its staff and functions in the one location. This is already possible in many locations; however the current land use zoning doesn’t allow this to happen at Rivermakers.

Rivermakers is not proposing to allow development of any schools, childcare facilities, medical facilities, hotels or other sensitive uses.

The regulations that govern the development of industrial buildings and precincts have remained largely unchanged for more than 20 years and have not kept pace with the requirements of the sector. Rivermakers are requesting a change to these regulations to allow them to deliver a modern, innovative industrial estate. This co-location of businesses already occurs in other locations around Brisbane

The Brisbane City Council Industrial Strategy 2019 recognised that demand for industrial land within Brisbane is projected to overtake the supply of appropriately zoned land by 2041. The strategy acknowledged that better management of Brisbane’s industrial areas is needed to facilitate the effective growth of industrial development.

Rivermakers is ready to act on this strategy and recognises the significant importance of the site’s industrial land to the wider Brisbane business environment. The proposed development takes advantage of the site’s unique riverfront location and has been carefully designed to provide a high-quality industrial outcome for the subject site that reflects the intent of the Industrial Strategy.

The Rivermakers site is currently zoned for medium and high impact industry, including activities such as abrasive blasting, concrete batching, and battery, tyre and asbestos manufacturing.
The DA demonstrates Rivermakers’ intent to create a low impact, Mixed Business and Industry precinct, with increased connectivity along the river, community access and restored heritage assets.

This application will now go through the Brisbane City Council assessment process, including public notification before a decision is made. This is expected to be mid-2023.

The old Lime Factory (Commonwealth Acetate of Lime Factory) is a Queensland and Local Heritage Place. Built in 1917, it has recently been refurbished and is a key feature of the Heritage Quarter on the Rivermakers site. The restoration and repurposing of these buildings celebrates their significant cultural benefits and opens them to up to the public in a sustainable way.

‘Makers’ are creating and making something new. At Rivermakers that includers Revel Brewing Co (Brewery & Restaurant), Mas & Miek (Ceramic Workshop), and Bavay Distillery (Distillery & Bar). This commitment to creating puts the ‘makers’ in ‘Rivermakers’.

A lot! Including:
– Economic benefit – this change would attract businesses and their highly skilled workforces to Brisbane and the precinct, and offer employment opportunities
– Unlocking heritage assets through restoration and reuse of the heritage buildings
– Improved river’s edge connectivity for the community between the two adjoining public reserves
– Remediation of the site as part of the ongoing re-development

Yes. The master plan envisages a new riverfront park and shared path to allow the community to access the river. The site will allow the adjoining Colmslie Beach Reserve and Colmslie Recreation Reserve to be connected with a cycle route along the river’s edge.

A range of access and movement improvements are proposed to mitigate any future traffic issues, including an intersection upgrade for the Colmslie Road, Lytton Road and Junction Road junction.

Rivermakers is fully supportive of all surrounding businesses and hopes to provide amenity to the local workforce and community.

Ask questions and let us know what you think here.