Hotel & HospitalityPhil BartschThu 28 May 26
Artemus $500m Howard Smith Wharves Expansion Approved
Brisbane is about to take its next head-first dive into its riverfront renaissance as it strives to execute a perfect 10-point pike in its preparations for the 2032 Olympics.
Shedding the last remnants of the dusty, derelict industrial past beneath its landmark Story Bridge, the developers who reawakened the Howard Smith Wharves have been greenlit for a $500-million expansion of the precinct.
The approval fires the starting gun for the bold next development phase—dubbed HSW 2.0—of Artemus Group’s popular riverfront hospitality playground.
Its broad focus is on cementing the precinct as a world-class and uniquely Brisbane destination ahead of the Games—with enhanced amenities, public access and riverside tourism infrastructure.
The nod from the Brisbane City Council paves the way for a 106-room boutique hotel atop a revamped Felons Barrel Hall as well as Brisbane’s first over-river swimming pool.
Artemus Group founder Adam Flaskas said it was a watershed moment not only for the precinct but the city’s ongoing embracement of the “brown snake”—the city’s murky and meandering serpentine soul.
“The timing of this approval could not be more significant,” Flaskas said.
“With Brisbane set to host the world for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, HSW 2.0 positions Howard Smith Wharves, and the Brisbane River, as a centrepiece of the city’s global moment.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Brisbane. Howard Smith Wharves has always been about connecting people with this magnificent river, and with this announcement we take that vision to an entirely new level.
“And this is not just for Brisbane today, but for the world that will be watching in 2032.”
The development approval will dramatically amplify the precinct’s public footprint—unlocking 8500sq m of new outdoor space, equating to a 30 per cent increase in the site’s public realm.
Alongside the major makeover of Felons Barrel Hall to attract more music and entertainment offerings as well as visitors, the plans include “cascading” riverfront stairs to connect the precinct to the river, and a flood-resilient pontoon delivering private boat mooring and a tourism gateway to Moreton Bay.
Howard Smith Wharves chief executive Luke Fraser said the approval was a defining milestone.
“Brisbane is a city on the rise, and Howard Smith Wharves is proud to be part of that story,” he said. “Every decision we’ve made in designing HSW has been guided by asking: how do we create something that Brisbane will be proud to show the world in 2032 and for decades beyond.”
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Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner added: “Howard Smith Wharves has now become one of Australia’s great urban transformations and it’s something we’re proud of as a city. This next stage takes Howard Smith Wharves to another level.”
As Fraser told The Urban Developer two years ago after lodging the development application for the precinct’s expansion: “The river is one of our city’s superpowers.
“And it’s also something which we’ve done really terrible things to, historically.
“We’ve quarried it, we’ve used it as a sewer at one point, and there’s whole parts of the city that turned their back on it. If you look at some of the oldest apartment buildings in New Farm, they constructed their stairwells on the river-facing side.
“We never realised what a beautiful asset it is for the city, and we never realised how majestic and peaceful and amazing it is … the way that it moves throughout our city and the way it connects a lot of our inner-city precincts now.
“And what’s beautiful about all those different precincts that are on the river is they all offer a diversity of uses, and they’re all very complementary to each other.”
