ResidentialLindsay SaundersWed 29 Apr 26
Lendlease Moves Ahead with 1800-Home Brisbane Games Village Plan
Development heavy-hitter Lendlease says it is moving forward with its plans for 1800 homes as part of the athletes’ village for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The proposal centres on the transformation of the Brisbane Showgrounds precinct into a major residential and mixed-use community after the Games.
The village will be home to around 10,000 athletes and officials during the event and then be converted into permanent housing.
The developer said the homes would be taken to market as build-to-rent or build-to-sell after the Games.
The development is part of a broader urban renewal effort, with the showgrounds site earmarked as a key legacy precinct delivering long-term housing supply.
Lendlease said Birmingham-based architects Howells, who worked with on the London Olympics, would design the developer’s project on the RNA Showgrounds site, in conjunction with Australian firms Woods Bagot, Cottee Parker, DBI and Plus Studio.
The developer said BVN was guiding a multidisciplinary masterplanning team to steer the future of the Brisbane Showgrounds Precinct.
The project is slated as the final collaboration between landowner RNA and Lendlease for the 22ha site.
The collaboration has delivered apartment towers and a timber-built 25 office tower on the site on the northern edge of the CBD.
The scale of the project makes it one of the most significant housing pipelines linked to the Games.
The developer told media this was “an important step forward for the main athletes’ village which will comprise approximately 1800 apartments to house the world’s best athletes and convert to permanent housing after 2032, delivering a lasting legacy long after the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.
“Together with new event infrastructure and public spaces, this further strengthens the Brisbane Showground’s role as a vibrant inner-city community and major entertainment destination,” it said.
While a builder has not been appointed, the chairman of Hutchinson Builders, Queensland’s largest contractor, told media he was bidding for the project.
“It suits Hutchies, it’s not popular work and … a lot of commercial builders say no. High-rise resi is the least loved job. It’s difficult,” Scott Hutchinson said.
Lendlease is a part of one of two consortia shortlisted for the Brisbane Arena project, which will be developed as a public-private partnership.
The Brisbane Entertainment Alliance Consortium—comprising Capella Capital, Lendlease, AEG and Legends Global—and the Gather Brisbane Consortium, which includes Plenary Group, Live Nation and Oak View Group, are now working up detailed design proposals ahead of a preferred proponent being named later this year.
Plans for the project come as competition intensifies for construction resources tied to Olympics-related infrastructure across South-East Queensland.
The broader Brisbane 2032 program includes new stadiums, transport upgrades and multiple athletes’ villages across the region, forming part of a multi-billion-dollar construction pipeline.
Industry participants have warned that compressed delivery timelines could create capacity challenges as projects move towards construction.
The athletes’ village is a central piece of the Games legacy, combining event accommodation with long-term residential outcomes in an inner-city location.
