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Welcome back to The Dirt, Australia’s go-to news brief for Australia’s up-and-coming property and construction players.

Your mid-week brief:

🏗️ Central Equity revives shelved Surfers Paradise tower with redesign
🏘️ Deicorp breaks ground on $1B Castle Hill precinct
🌉 Tasmania opens its largest-ever transport project

Here’s what’s moving 👇

🏗 Project Pulse

Queensbridge Hits Its Crown
Southbank’s latest showstopper just topped out at 209m. The Queensbridge Building — from Time & Place, Hickory, and MaxCap — pairs 353 apartments with the Hannah St. Hotel, lush gardens, rooftop lounges, and wellness zones. Designed like a Bond villain’s pied-à-terre. Expected completion? Q4, and we’re watching: Urban

Castle Hill’s $1B Metro Village Starts Climbing
Deicorp just broke ground on Showground Pavilions — a $1B mixed-use precinct with 873 apartments, affordable housing, and a 3,500 sqm park riding shotgun on the Sydney Metro. It’s the Hills District’s biggest vertical leap yet: The Urban Developer

Tassie Builds a Bridge to the Future
The $786M Bridgewater Bridge is open, replacing a World War II relic with a sleek, 1.2km monster. It links Hobart’s north and south like never before, cutting freight times and river delays with marine-friendly clearance. Tasmania’s biggest infrastructure play to date — and it shows: The Urban Developer

Parkdale’s Boom Gates Get the Axe
One less excuse to be late: Parkdale’s notorious level crossing is gone. The new-look station is live, complete with greenery, public spaces, and no more Frankston Line bottlenecks. That’s 55 hours of boom gate downtime slashed weekly — and one step closer to a level-crossing-free Melbourne: Roads & Infrastructure Magazine

🚧 Pipeline Watch

Jam Factory Goes Full Flute Mode
Gurner just blew up the box and turned Chapel Street into a design flex. The final stage of the $3.75B Jam Factory redevelopment swaps a vanilla tower for twin sculptural flutes by SOM and Buchan. With 800 resi units, two hotels, reworked cinemas, and a piazza the size of your ego, it spans 20,000 sqm — as big as the MCG. Enter via Lovers Walk, exit via curated chaos: ArchitectureAU

ARI Is Back, and She's Gold Coast Glam
Metrics and Odus are tag-teaming a resurrection play at Main Beach. Originally fronted by Harry Stamoulis, the reborn ARI will rise 21 levels, serve just 31 ultra-luxe apartments, and drop a $20M penthouse on the skyline like it's nothing. Trophy towers are back in vogue, and this one’s wearing heels: AFR

Belconnen Adds More Bulk
Two new 13-storey towers are coming to Canberra’s Linq precinct, adding 151 apartments to the city’s northwest boom belt. It’s part of a three-stage resi blitz with build-to-rent, podium retail, and brutalist neighbours for contrast: The Urban Developer

Central Equity Returns to the Gold Coast Ring
Back from the dead: Pacific One is reborn as a leaner, meaner, 52-level coastal tower. Melbourne’s Central Equity is back in the GC game after shelving the original 486-unit plan due to cost blowouts. No more rooftop club, but two pools and a more grounded vision keep it sharp: Urban

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🤝 Deal Flow

Grove Bags 2.4-Ha for Southeast Play
Grove Group locked down a 2.4-hectare lot in Officer South’s South Point biz park for $12.7M off-market. Expect sheds, supply chains, and serious expansion vibes. Melbourne’s southeast is hot, and owner-occupiers are moving before the speculators smell blood: The Industrialist

Alexandria Warehouse Packs Punch & DA
A 1,677 sqm industrial gem in Alexandria just moved for $12M — with a shiny DA for a nine-storey tower. Located a cheeky 200m from Green Square, it’s primed for a commercial glow-up or hold play. Owner-occupiers beat out developers this round: The Industrialist

💰 Money Moves

Rundle Mall's Crown Jewel Hits the Market
150 Rundle Mall, a heritage-listed beauty from the 1860s, is up for grabs — and it’s only the seventh Mall sale in a decade. No height limits, no stamp duty, and more foot traffic than a marathon. Adelaide’s core is open for business: Real Commercial

Bourke Street’s Old Cinema Set for Rewrite
The former Empire Picture Theatre at 151 Bourke Street is on the block for $4.5M. Think dual access, vintage grit, and a prime East End perch between Chinatown and the Mall. Cafes, clubs, or culture — pick your poison: Herald Sun via Fitzroys

📜 Policy & Pressure

Hospital Plan Flops, Apartments Step In
In Sydney’s Inner West, the dream of a flashy private hospital with “world-class” physio and hydrotherapy pools fizzled. Now a 22-storey housing tower is in its place, with 162 units (15% affordable) and rezoning in motion. Another Parramatta Road pivot: The Urban Developer

Sunshine Coast’s PALMS Project Reworks the Angles
Cube Developments has refiled its plans for a luxe 96-unit resort play at Oaks Oasis. After council raised eyebrows, JSTN Architects refined the form. It’s lower, lighter, and laser-targeted at down-sizers with a taste for salt air and low-maintenance living: Sunshine Coast News

🔩 Build Intel

Unregistered Builder Banned for Life

The VBA has scored a permanent Supreme Court injunction against Peninsula Building Projects and its director Clancy John Fulton, banning both from operating as builders for life. Fulton had been posing under another builder’s registration, taking hefty upfront deposits—some over $100K—before going dark mid-project. With up to 100 customers potentially affected, the court heard claims of ghosted clients and unfinished renos. He can still swing a hammer under supervision, but one false move and it’s jail time: The Urban Developer

Metro Tunnel Hits the Simulation Button
June 21 is D-Day for Melbourne’s biggest subterranean flex. The Metro Tunnel will trial full-day ops with trains running deep through its spine, while surface chaos keeps crews working at Caulfield and Footscray. After 140,000km of tunnel test runs, this megaproject’s about to go from theory to theatre: Roads & Infrastructure Magazine

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🌍 Market Reads

Retail Is Back, But Smarter
JLL’s 2025 survey says retail centres are doing more than surviving — they’re evolving. Think click-and-collect, placemaking, pop-ups, and food over fashion. Occupancy incentives are up, and landlords are finally playing offence: JLL

Coworking Isn’t Niche — It’s Necessary
Traditional office supply is tight, rents are up, and flex space is booming. With 80%+ occupancy and premium operators rolling out spa-level amenities, coworking is no longer the fallback — it’s front-row. Investors, take notes: BMT + FWA via Commo

That’s a wrap for today.
If you made it this far, you’re already ahead.

Catch you in the dirt,
— Team DIRT

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