West End's $800 Million West Village Precinct Development Is Going Ahead

Tree-lined, open green space with adjacent rooftop gardens. A network of publicly accessible, New York-style laneways and arcades lined with markets, shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. Rooftop gardens. Community-use and artist-in-residence studios. A knowledge incubator. West End's Boundary Street doesn't currently boast all of the above, but it will in the near future.

Alongside a car-sharing scheme and space for markets, festivals and events, this is all part of the West Village development, which has just been given the government's tick of approval. The $800 million project will revamp the area around the original 1920s Peters Ice Cream factory and warehouse, and preserving the two heritage-listed buildings is all part of the plan.

Across the 2.1 hectare site, seven new structures will also be added, ranging from eight to 22 storeys high and including a maximum of 1250 apartments. If you're thinking that the heart of Brisbane's inner west is going to look rather different when West Village comes to fruition, you'd be right.

And if you're a little concerned about the changes taking place in an area so beloved by so many, and with such a distinctive sense of character and history, then you have company. Providing a potent example of the range of feelings flying about the project, the announcement of West Village's official green-light sparked a heated Facebook exchange between Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Greens Councillor for The Gabba, Jonathan Sri.

With much of the city in a constant state of redevelopment at any given time, particularly in the CBD and neighbouring suburbs, West Village was always bound to be controversial. Locals have been wary for some time now, with more than 700 submissions reportedly received during the call-in period.

For more information about West Village, visit the development's website.

Via Brisbane Times.