ApartmentsTaryn ParisThu 06 Aug 26
Goldfields Turns First Sod on Milton Tower After Five-Year Odyssey
After a “few false starts”, Melbourne developer Goldfields has turned the first sod on its debut Brisbane project, Quartet.
The event at 33 Manning Street, at Milton, marked the start of construction on a site that has weathered a design overhaul, a builder switch and a run of macroeconomic headwinds since it was conceived five years ago.
The site was originally slated for a build-to-rent scheme. It has been reworked into the current Cera Stribley-designed build-to-sell offering comprising an 18-storey tower of 131 apartments.
Binah has been appointed builder on the project with McGrath Knight Frank handling sales.
Goldfields chief executive Lachlan Thompson said that the project’s protracted timeline had ultimately delivered a better outcome for buyers.
“Rather than focus on the negatives, we’ve got two or three years extra than we’d normally get on a project to sit down with the team and go through every single apartment, and make sure it’s better than what it was,” Thompson said.
He said the developer had resisted pressure to “cut and run” from the site despite the setbacks, but he said it was not in the business’s DNA to give up.
Thompson said the developer had identified Milton early as an undervalued office market that was “over-ripened” for a residential shift.
The goal, he said, was to apply a sophisticated Melbourne development lens to the western suburbs of Brisbane.
Thompson said the extended runway, while unwelcome at the time, had allowed the design and delivery team to reset.
“It’s created a way better building, and a building we’re going to drive past in 15 years and know we delivered a really great quality project—because in the face of adversity we had time to make it better,” he said.
Binah chief executive Khalil Hafza said trust between the two parties had been critical to getting the project to site, after a signing process disrupted by geopolitical volatility had added months to the timeline.
“At the best of times our industry is complicated … and uncertain—we were on the eve of signing a contract when conflict broke out (in Iran), and that delayed us another three or four months. But we finally got there,” Hafza said.
Hafza said the strength of the relationship forged through that period would underpin delivery of the project.
“I know for a developer, signing up for a builder on their first project in South-East Queensland is a big step, and there’s a lot of trust that goes with that.
“It’s a testament to the quality of the relationship we’ve formed that we’re now in a position to deliver a quality project together,” he said.
Goldfields and Binah flagged the Milton groundbreaking as the start of a broader push into the Queensland market, with Hafza pointing to ambitions to extend the partnership into New South Wales and Victoria.
Construction is expected to run for about 24 months, with completion slated for the end of 2028.
