Dexus’s ‘Unicorn’ Office-to-PBSA Tower Conversion Opens in Brisbane

Dexus has opened its $500-million conversion of a B-grade Brisbane office—once considered among the city’s ugliest buildings—into student housing. Built in 1979 as Mineral House, it was home to the Queensland Government for 43 years (during which time it was dubbed “Miserable House”). But 41 George Street became increasingly conspicuous as an ageing commercial building as the $3.6-billion Queen’s Wharf casino, hotel and residential precinct rose behind it. After the half-a-billion-dollar revamp, the building has been given a new lease of life and will soon welcome the first cohort of students after its conversion into a 1182-bed accommodation asset. At an opening event on July 2, attended by Minister for Housing and Public Works Sam O’Connor and Minister for Education and the Arts John-Paul Langbroek, the development team, including Dexus, Marquette and Hutchinson Builders, highlighted the speed of the build program and the sustainability benefits of the adaptive reuse project. Dexus alternative investments executive general manager Brenton McEwan said that finding the highest and best use of a building has always been Dexus’s modus operandi. ▲ The tower at 41 George Street was a B-grade office in Brisbane before its PBSA conversion. “This asset in particular was bought in one of our opportunistic funds, which by definition has to be reactive and responsive,” McEwan told The Urban Developer. “And being able to take an obsolete office building and convert it into what this amazing asset is today is part of our DNA. “It’s one of the best examples of conversion and reuse that you’ll find anywhere.” Marquette Properties managing director Toby Lewis said that the planning process—after the team acquired the building from QIC two years ago for $159 million—had been quick and simple. “We settled this property in November 2024 and here we stand in July 2026 with an open residence. [It’s an] incredible achievement and a really proud day.” Adaptive reuse of a grade B asset Marquette Properties project director Scott Taylor described 41 George Street as a ‘unicorn’—a building with vacant possession and strong structural bones, with the correct window and core configuration for a residential adaptation. “As well as benefitting from a central core, which allowed us to have units on either side, the government was a stagnant tenant and didn’t make a lot of alterations, to the slab for instance,” Taylor said. Older buildings in particular can be difficult to get up to code, a prohibitive hurdle for adaptive reuse. Dexus assistant development manager Soneel Deo said the back-to-the-bare-bones approach had worked effectively. “We stripped everything all the way back to bare concrete facade and floors, ceilings as well, so it was literally only structural left. “And then we’d come back in and fit out everything.” ▲ The exterior of 41 George Street after its conversion into a 1182-bed student accommodation tower. Dexus project director James Curtin said that the biggest challenge for the development had been getting everyone in line with the methodology, to ensure they beat their projected timelines. Hutchies brought in a hoist early; the methodology applied to all floors was decided at the early stages and then repeated. “In an old building especially you make allowances for hazardous material finds and for program delays, but ... we were lucky in that regard and found a lot less than we anticipated,” Curtin said. Bringing in modular en-suite bathrooms meant wet trades didn’t have to be on site as long, saving time. He said one of the most useful parts of the project was being in the Queen Street precinct and having approvals already set up, given the site was already zoned for student housing. “It made that front-end far less painful and less drag, which took a lot of the risk out of it.” Local talent, national money The partnership is also a landmark—bringing Dexus and Marquette together for the first time since Dexus sold the Gold and Blue Towers to the Brisbane developer and investor. “It’s really important for us to, when we’re, when we are making these investments, to ensure that we’ve got the right capability involved,” Curtin said. The project is 95 per cent owned through Dexus Real Estate Partnership (DREP), with 5 per cent owned by Marquette. It was not Marquette’s first office-to-student housing conversion (one was completed 10 years ago) and it is unlikely to be the last; Taylor said it may lay the foundation for future projects in Brisbane. ▲ Students are due to move into the 1182-bed PBSA tower for second semester. “I think we’ve kicked a few people into gear to look at it and we’ve had people coming to us and asking how we made it work, I feel like we’re trying to get everyone thinking, especially when there is quite a lot of stock around,” Taylor said. The tower, 200m from QUT campus as well as the planned Griffith CBD campus at the Treasure building, will be operated by UniLodge and is 40 per cent committed for Semester 2. McEwan said that the Brisbane opening was the latest for Dexus’s considered pipeline in a city where it had invested $6 billion already. “We have just acquired an office building on Charlotte Street, which we aren’t repurposing, but we are reusing and refurbishing,” he said. “We have a large logistics exposure in Queensland, as well, health, retail, shopping centers, student accommodation—we’ll be looking for it all in Brisbane.”

Student Accommodation
Clare Burnett
Fri 03 Jul 26

Dexus’s ‘Unicorn’ Office-to-PBSA Tower Conversion Opens in Brisbane

Get the full story.

States Progress LDI Shake-Up as Developer Insurance Landscape Reshapes

From Eureka Tower to Mirrastone: Benni Aroni’s Next Chapter

SEQ Builders Shift to Fast-Exit Projects Ahead of Olympic Unknowns

SMSF Borrowing Reform Hiding Risks, Opportunities for Property Sector

Jackson Lines Up Water Future as NSW Housing Delivery Surges

In Conversation: Eureka Group Holdings Limited Chief Executive Simon Owen

By the Numbers: Data-Driven Acquisition Strategies for Development Sites

Lessons Learned: How Novus on Harris Pioneered BtR in NSW

In Conversation: ID_Land Managing Director Matthew Belford

Rogerscorp Plots Waterfront Midrise Twin-Tower Play at Robina

States Progress LDI Shake-Up as Developer Insurance Landscape Reshapes