Ballymore Redevelopment

[Jiggles]

Thats a bit of shame, Lindo. I have never been to Concord but always assumed it was the NSWRU spiritual home like Ballymore is for the QRU. It'd be a good opportunity to turn Ballymore into a ARU owned Camp Wallaby which I thought was a pretty good thing from the Macqueen Era.

 

[Lindommer]

The Concord fiasco was a financial disaster for the NSWRU - I was overseas at the time, not across all the detail, but apparently there was either outright fraud or maybe just total incompetence during the redevelopment. The late David Clarke, then with Macquarie Bank, bailed them out with a few million dollars or so. Ken Elphick's name springs to mind.

For which Ken did a stint in the "big house". A checkered report of Ken here: http://www.warugby.com.au/wa-rugby-articles/1996/11/26/ken-elphick-not-a-rugby-sort-of-bloke/

Some years later I had a long conversation with Gary Pearse, the CEO of NSWRU at the time, about the Elphick fiasco. Gary engineered a resolution of NSWRU's $20m debt to Westpac with an offer of $5m to clear it; Westpac agreed to take their medicine and close the matter. Other sources later informed me David Clarke from Macquarie was instrumental in raising the $5 mill. Not a happy time for the NSWRU.

 

[I like to watch]

Doesn't this whole development/ redevelopment hinge on the QRU being gifted title to land they do not currently own?

 

[TOCC]

Doesn't this whole development/ redevelopment hinge on the QRU being gifted title to land they do not currently own?

no the QRU own the land, essentially the deed under which they were granted the land was under the proviso of the land been used for sport and green space.

The QRU are hoping to have this changed, which would see the value of the land triple overnight, but it's a highly controversial subject with the local community.

 

[TOCC]

When I said Developer, I should have said civil construction company, I did not mean to imply it was a development partner. And if there is no chance to get the dollars, why are they running around talking to people about construction? They clearly have an intent to do something, I was trying to work out viability and tmelines, if any. Looks like dubious viability and no timelines.

They may plan on doing some parts of the project, like constructing the third field and the new road entrance.

However the broader project is on ice as far as I'm concerned, given market conditions I fail to see how the redevelopment will proceed in its current form.

Like mentioned above, a large part hinges on the QRU been able to have parts of the land rezoned which they will either sell off develop in partnership to provide some income. Once that is done they may be able to proceed with other parts of the project.

 

[TOCC]

So the status of this project, going off the Annual Report.

The QRU has engaged Coffey's Sport and Leisure to push project, they are the same group who were associated with the upgrade to AFL training facilities of Hawthorne and St Kilda, as well as VISY Park(Carlton) where the Rebels also train.

The DA itself is in the appeal process, as for funding, the QRU are trying to secure the funding from 2008 granted by the Gillard government prior to the CMC investigation.

 

[Karl]

So the local residents are appealing the DA? Trying to access a dead Government grant. Sounds like the whole thing is a long uncertain road.

 

[TOCC]

So the local residents are appealing the DA? Trying to access a dead Government grant. Sounds like the whole thing is a long uncertain road.

Yes the residents appealing is the likely scenario.. It was always going to be a long and lengthy process, nothing is going to be done overnight and given the financial issues at both state and federal level, they are unlikely to receive anything in the next 24months either.

 

[TOCC]

After engaging Coffey Sport and Leisure to work with the QRU and government to deliver the best possible solution for any future development at Ballymore, we are confident of receiving development approval from council by the end of the month.
We are convinced that a proposed elite and community sporting precinct will provide the necessary blend for all members of the rugby community to enjoy Ballymore. I look forward to updating you on the proposed redevelopment progress when more information comes to hand

Latest update from Rod McCall off the QRU website in 'Chairmans Letter'

 

[emuarse]

no the QRU own the land, essentially the deed under which they were granted the land was under the proviso of the land been used for sport and green space.

The QRU are hoping to have this changed, which would see the value of the land triple overnight, but it's a highly controversial subject with the local community.

The QRU originally got the land back in circa 1968 on a 99 year lease, with ownership retained by the government - has that situation changed?

 

[BRFC]

Hi guys,

I'm new around here. I'm a massive football (soccer) fan and an in-learning Union fan (Qld Reds). I've been put off League having moved from Sydney and needed a team to support in the A-league off season. So I chose to attend a few Reds games and got hooked (the fans are top-notch, especially compared to the Bandwagon Broncos).

Ive been to Ballymore on numerous occasions to see both teams train and have been very impressed with the old stadium and equally unimpressed by the sad state that it's been left to slowly become (boo QLD Govt.). Yes it's a crap location (public transport wise) - but that can be fixed without toooo much trouble to make it slightly more accessible. So if you can't tell already, I'm a huge fan to see the Reds return back to their original grounds as I can only begin to imagine the amazing atmosphere the fans would have created at such an intimate park (as opposed to the sometimes sterile Suncorp Stadium).

Is anyone aware of any developments that have been made in recent months, or is this project as likely as flying pigs?

Having been a passionate Brisbane Roar fan for some time now, I've followed their ownership takeover quite closely (they've been bought out by a Billionaire Indonesian family) whom last year made a comment stating that their 10 year plan for the Roar included the construction of their own stadium. I wonder if the QRU have approached the Roars new owners about a possible
co-funded venture in restoring Ballymore?

 

[Jets]

BRFC welcome, it's good to have you here. I think that any redevelopment of Ballymore would be more based around a high performance training base as well as a stadium for community sports to hold big events or even some under-age world cup's, if they were to arise in the future.
The Reds would see themselves as one of the major tenants of Suncorp with ambitions to have crowds over 40K for most matches. With Ballymore getting 20K back in its heyday it just can't compete.
The construction of a new stadium in Brisbane would make little sense in the current market as Suncorp has everything going for it. It is close to the city, has good public transport access, close to an entertainment district and is an impressive facility in its own right. Any other stadium would be in the back blocks of the city and wouldn't attract attendance like Suncorp does.

 

[Scotty]

The local residents and Qld Government don't like it, but the most viable option would be to include residential development into the scheme. Make it a mixed use hub for the area with the high performance centre a part of that.

 

[I like to watch]

Viable to the QRU, or viable to all concerned. including the local residents?

 

[Jets]

It could be modelled off the QUT Kelvin Grove precinct, but on a smaller scale, that seem to go ok.

 

[BRFC]

BRFC welcome, it's good to have you here. I think that any redevelopment of Ballymore would be more based around a high performance training base as well as a stadium for community sports to hold big events or even some under-age world cup's, if they were to arise in the future.
The Reds would see themselves as one of the major tenants of Suncorp with ambitions to have crowds over 40K for most matches. With Ballymore getting 20K back in its heyday it just can't compete.
The construction of a new stadium in Brisbane would make little sense in the current market as Suncorp has everything going for it. It is close to the city, has good public transport access, close to an entertainment district and is an impressive facility in its own right. Any other stadium would be in the back blocks of the city and wouldn't attract attendance like Suncorp does.

Thanks, great to finally sign up!
I see what you're saying. I wonder whether the Reds would stand to make a higher profit consistently selling-out Ballymore or regularly attracting 30K plus to Suncorp? From memory, break even is at around 12K tickets sold (for the Roar at least).

If public transport were to be improved (more efficient shuttle bus system & a pedestrian bridge over the creek, making Wilston station a 5 minute walk away), along with better training facilities (which i assume would come with a redeveloped sporting facility), I could realistically see the Roar move to Ballymore.

It'll certainly be interesting to see what happens if the bid for a second NRL club in Brisbane (Bombers) wins the license, that'll make it 4 teams sharing Lang Park.The groundsmen will certainly have their work cut out for them between the 3/4 tenants as well as Wallabies, Socceroos, Asian Champions League and Asian Cup (2015) matches.

 

[p.Tah]

BRFC, is the Roar main issue with Suncorp the playing surface? Perhaps, and I mean this seriously, the Indonesian family, invest in the development of a natural or artificial surface that could withstand the amount of traffic that Suncorp has. They could then sell the technology and make another billion.
Now excuse me, there is some more pie in the sky thinking I need to do in another thread .

 

[BRFC]

BRFC, is the Roar main issue with Suncorp the playing surface? Perhaps, and I mean this seriously, the Indonesian family, invest in the development of a natural or artificial surface that could withstand the amount of traffic that Suncorp has. They could then sell the technology and make another billion.
Now excuse me, there is some more pie in the sky thinking I need to do in another thread .

No, in fact the surface at Suncorp is second to none. It's the size of the stadium itself. The roar last season averaged 15K. Not good enough to warrant a 52K seater stadium.

 

[I like to watch]

Especially if 12k is break even

 

[Karl]

Latest update from Rod McCall off the QRU website in 'Chairmans Letter'

No mention of how its getting funded or how long to develop.