It seems like the city of Brisbane is constantly under development nowadays, and for good reason too. A growing number of companies based in the Asia-Pacific (or ‘APAC’) region seem to be setting their sights on Brisbane as an ideal location for establishing an Australian headquarters. Even Australian corporations based interstate are considering setting down roots in Brisbane, recognising the city’s potential to bolster their connection to international players.
But what are the reasons for Brisbane’s sudden appeal to APAC enterprises? And why now? We’ll be answering these questions today by outlining all the key reasons why Brisbane’s commercial real estate has become so in-demand to APAC business owners.
Availability of office space
When looking to plan an office fitout, it’s common for business owners to consider location first and then space affordances second. After all, location is everything when it comes to real estate investments, and the same goes for commercial properties as well – even if you’re looking for a long-term lease rather than to purchase an office tower.
What’s rare about Brisbane, however, is that there’s an abundance of commercial office space available in the heart of the Brisbane CBD. When compared to Melbourne and Sydney, Brisbane business owners are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to securing commercial real estate. It’s not too difficult to find office towers that are both centrally located and offer plenty of floor space for businesses that are looking to expand and expand fast.
Take 101 Albert Street, for instance. This delightfully modern and sustainability-oriented high-rise that’s currently in development, is poised to provide a wide range of different office spaces, all centrally located and complete with all the amenities required for office environments today. And with a rooftop garden too! The opportunity to snag your company its own place within these modern developments is all the more reason to establish a Brisbane HQ.
A lower and more comfortable cost of living
Not only is the commercial property market far less competitive in Brisbane, but it’s also typically more cost-effective to buy or lease an office space in the Brisbane CBD than it is to do so in Melbourne or Sydney. On top of this, the cost of living in Brisbane is lower in comparison to other Australian state capitals. So you can enjoy all the benefits of city living without having to deal with climbing daily costs.
And then there are funding opportunities for Brisbane-based startups and enterprises. Through Advance Queensland, Brisbane-based enterprises are able to access state government-funded opportunities and growth initiatives that may help them better fund their company’s expansions from being local players to potentially even internationally recognised corporations. If you’re looking to take your enterprise from the national to the international scale (or at the very least to introduce it to the wider APAC region), then Brisbane is the place you need to be.
Ideal weather conditions
This next one’s a bit of a no-brainer, but Queensland naturally has a warmer, more tropical climate in comparison to Sydney and Melbourne’s cooler, temperate climate. So if you’re not a fan of gloomy winters, you’ll also find plenty to love about Brisbane’s milder weather conditions year-round. This is another major factor for APAC business owners setting their sights on warm and sunny Brisbane over the rest of Australia’s chilly east coast.
Of course, flooding is a concern in some parts of the greater Brisbane area, so these environmental factors should be taken into consideration before mapping out your move. But if you’re looking to settle in the heart of the Brisbane CBD in a high-rise apartment, you’ll have very little to worry about and can simply enjoy the city’s characteristic clear skies and near-perpetual beach weather.
Investments in the education sector
Queensland’s education sector has also been bulking up in a major way over the past few years. From QUT developing their own cybersecurity and fintech courses, to secondary schools across the state implementing coding and other practical skills-building workshops into their curriculum, young people living in Brisbane have an abundance of professional opportunities, and access to some highly lucrative career pathways. Not to mention that students can live pretty comfortable in Brisbane with even just part-time work to support them as they study.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in technology in particular, this evolving sector is making big waves across the Brisbane CBD, with many of Australia’s leading tech enterprises establishing their own presence in the city centre. But more on this below!
Growing professional networks
Alongside Brisbane’s growing number of educational institutions and modern course offerings, the city is already growing its local professional networks in a major way. In just the last few years alone, Brisbane has become a meeting ground for many of Australia’s leading startup enterprises, including Canva, AfterPay, and dozens of homegrown app development and video game development companies.
As a result, the city of Brisbane has also attracted the attention of many tech industry bodies, including Fintech Australia, who have begun hosting fintech sector networking opportunities and other industry events up north in Brisbane as well as in Sydney. And it’s highly likely that Brisbane’s calendar of industry events will only continue to grow as more Australian and national organisations alike continue investing in the city for themselves.
Closer proximity to the wider APAC region
We’ll conclude this list with another no-brainer: Brisbane is a lot closer to the wider APAC region than Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. It’s a lot easier to fly from Brisbane to any country in the APAC region, which allows businesses to save hundreds if not thousands on air travel annually.
Business owners who may find themselves living between wider Asia and Australia, will also find that they’re spending less time in the air, which means more time in the office or better still, with their families! So purely by travel logistics alone (which is always a larger deciding factor than we expect it to be), Brisbane takes the cake on all fronts as the ideal location of an Australian HQ for APAC enterprises.
Does this mean that Brisbane’s commercial real estate can expect to be hit hard with foreign investors in the coming years? Well, not necessarily. The city is still largely underdeveloped when compared to Melbourne and Sydney. And there’s just as much real estate available in other regions across the greater Brisbane region alongside the CBD. And given that both Cairns and the Sunshine Coast also have their own international airports, it’s likely that Queensland will see multiple industrial hubs emerging across the state rather than a concentration of commercial activity like Melbourne and Sydney. And this is yet another pro for business owners to invest in Brisbane over other Australian capitals!
We encourage you to like the Your Neighbourhood Facebook page, to be updated on other projects or developments.
Source: Information, Drawings and Images
All article information is sourced and available for review from referenced locations.
– Information supplied.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
News articles are presented in an unbiased manner from information publicly accessible that include referenced links for the reader to obtain any further information. The facts of the proposed government projects, media releases, school upgrades and development applications are based on the available information at the time of the published date, with information sourced directly from company websites, media releases and development application material. We reference all our information at the end of the articles and promote the creators with website back links.
Your Neighbourhood provides localised news on the happenings in your suburb or area. We promote community events, local school upgrades, government project, development, local business and art in Queensland
Contact us: mail@yourneighbourhood.com.au
© Your Neighbourhood
Recent Comments