With demolition work for the Queen's Wharf casino and entertainment precinct well under way, a $2 billion entertainment precinct on the other side of Brisbane's CBD moved a step closer late last week.
Venue operator AEG Ogden has been pursuing its market-led proposal for the Brisbane Live entertainment precinct, which would include a $450 million, 17,000-seat arena built on top of the Roma Street railyards, for more than a year.
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Concert arena plan for Brisbane CBD
A $2 billion concert venue is "something to get excited about" for Brisbane but the state government says it must be privately funded. 7 News Queensland
AEG Ogden representatives met with Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Treasurer Curtis Pitt last Friday and it was understood all parties were encouraged by the progress.
"Brisbane Live is an exciting idea, and has moved on considerably since it was first proposed," Mr Pitt said.
"The meeting on Friday was very constructive and we have agreed to continue exploring options for progressing the concept including financing options."
AEG Ogden chairman Harvey Lister described Friday's meeting as "positive" and welcomed the opportunity to directly brief senior government ministers.
"It was a chance to update the government on the significant progress we have made so far," he said.
"We have engaged specialised property and investment firm JLL to undertake further work on funding options and economic impacts.
"I look forward to meeting with the government again in a few months when that work is completed."
AEG Ogden has insisted the Brisbane Live arena would be a complementary facility to the much maligned Brisbane Entertainment Centre at Boondall, which it also operated along with Suncorp Stadium and the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
But the reality was, barring scheduling conflicts, all big-ticket concerts would return to the inner-city in a way not seen since the long since demolished Festival Hall's heyday.
Brisbane Live would link King George Square to the Barracks on Petrie Terrace and be built above planned Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro stations.
The existing Roma Street Transit Centre would make way for residential, hotel and commercial towers, the tallest of which would be a 90-storey residential tower.
The project already has the support of Brisbane City Council, with Lord Mayor Graham Quirk this week citing Brisbane Live would add impetus for his $944 million Brisbane Metro mass transit system.
The Palaszczuk government's market-led-proposal scheme allowed private companies to pitch ideas for state-owned land, rather than the government putting it out to tender.
It was this scheme that saw plans for new mega-cruise ship terminal at Luggage Point progress to the in-principle agreement stage in April.
Ms Trad said Brisbane Live was a good fit for the government's aim to ensure high-quality development in Brisbane.
"I look forward to further discussions with AEG Ogden to look at what may be needed to bring the concept to reality," she said.
The Liberal National opposition has been broadly supportive of the project, but shadow treasurer Scott Emerson has criticised the length of time the market-led proposal process had taken.
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