Business Trends in Brisbane 2015

With a population of over 2.3 million, Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. The central business district of Brisbane stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, which is about 9 miles from its mouth of Moreton Bay. The area of the city extends in all directions along the floodplain if the Brisbane River valley between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range.

Brisbane has been a very determined city in playing a major role in the Allied campaign during World War II. It has also been an active participant of large cultural, international and sporting events, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 1988 and the 2014 G-20 Summit.

It is recognized as one of the major business hubs in Australia and one of the country’s fastest growing state economies. The key sectors in the city include mining and resources, IT and communication, scientific innovation, creative industries, food, education, tourism infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics and distribution and aviation. Many international companies and most major Australian companies have offices in Brisbane, providing students with some of the world’s well-known organizations.

The history of Brisbane has been one of the most challenging decades in the markets ‘150 years ago. These years portrayed the fascinating tale of challenges, trade, people and progress. In the year 1868, the first central market was opened up in a Brisbane municipal council. The Council also opened the purpose-built Municipal Market in Roma Street, which was tucked beside the rail line and handy to the wharf area in the heart of the city. Unhappy traders of Roma Street created a rival market in Turbot Street, known as the Brisbane fruit and produce exchange limited. There emerged as a tough competition among the two markets and their close proximity created a city market precinct.

In 2002, the Queensland government decided to sell the Brisbane markets by an open tender process. In the bidding process, a public company comprising 150 predominantly industry-based shareholders, won the bid, buying the now 72 hectares site for $74 million. The name of the company was subsequently changed to Brisbane Markets Limited.

The economy of Australia recorded its 22^nd consecutive year of growth in 2012-13. Moreover the growth rate, as projected by IMF, is expected to get doubled in 2013. Driving Queensland growth, Brisbane is recognized as one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia.

• The economy of Brisbane has rapidly expanded to be worth $135 billion in 2011-12.
• With an average of 4.7 percent growth between 2001 and 2011, Brisbane is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
• Queensland’s economic output is almost half of Brisbane’s economic output, and Brisbane’s total output is 9 per cent of Australia’s as a whole.
• The city is moving towards a knowledge economy that will sustain long-term economic prosperity for its economy.
• The business prospects in Brisbane are competitively high with expanded levels of business investment and innovation, and the largest public infrastructure spending program in Australia’s history.

According to Lord Mayor Graham, the city of Brisbane will grow faster than any other mature world city by 2020. The city has been ranked number one for expected gross domestic product growth from 2012 to 2020.

Many organizations, such as the Queensland Department of Public Works (DPW) hold a significant interest in the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) in controlling approximately 20 per cent of the office space within its confines. Among the total space of 333,903 square meters, 1.7lac is owned and the rest approx. 1.63 square meters is leased from the private sector.

Property and economic factors

The study about the property and the economic factors in Brisbane has revealed the following conclusions.

• Net income growth has shown a positive correlation with inflation reflecting linkages with the rent review mechanism.
• Effective rents and space vacancies are inversely related indicating a rise in rents when the vacancies reduce.
• The increased rents drive the demand for new buildings showing a positive correlation between effective rents and construction activity.
• Low vacancies encourage increased construction, hence showing a negative relation between vacancy rates and construction activity.
• There has been a growth in employment for construction activity.
• There is a linkage between state economic growth and property income, employment and construction activity.

Brisbane’s commercial sales transactions are on a rise since 1981. The annual sales turnover for the period from 1988 to 2001 has been approximately $380M. The average annual number of transactions has been 27, and the median single transaction value has been approximately $4M. The analysis shows that the sales have driven dollar rates per square meter of the net area for office buildings over 3,000 square meters in area. The last five year’s sale indicates a relatively consistent average rate at $2,100 per square meters floor area. First half of year 2002 witnessed some growth averaging at $2,410 per square meters.

Logistics and mining technology

60 per cent of world demand for mining software is sourced from Brisbane while most of Queensland’s 300 MTS providers are based in Brisbane. The city is recognized as a mining technology sciences (MTS) hub worth more than $1 billion. The logistics and mining industry has moved to a greater reliance on contracting and consultants which includes:

• Greater demand for technical equipment, services and personnel
• Significant role for mining and refining technologies
• Better and more sophisticated exploration methods and geological analysis
• Introduction of new technologies that has improved safety, efficiency and reliability
• Innovation in research and development

Infrastructural Plan

The plan developed in 2012 builds upon the strategic direction and coordinated approach to developing future infrastructure. The main idea of the plan is to prioritize and align Brisbane’s infrastructure as the city grows, and also to provide a reference for other levels of government and the private sector.

Investment

Brisbane is enterprising and energized with a global outlook, exceptional industry strengths and a new world city edge. The city interacts firmly with the global markets, yet remains economically resilient. Many multinational have invested in Brisbane finding an flexible yet stable and cost-competitive business environment. Brisbane’s growing opportunity to excel, considerable business benefits and the lifestyle is drawing the attention of innovators, industry leaders and emerging talent. The city offers investors an opportunity to balance their value considerations of cost versus the opportunities for assessing a talented workforce, expanding transport infrastructure, the infrastructure for human capital and the stability of regulation to compete.

Brisbane marketing’s Investment Attraction team has been working to deliver a range of new initiatives focused on attracting foreign investment into Brisbane. Projects in these investment plans include:

• RESOUCE HUB

Global hub which focusses on attracting investment into Brisbane’s resources R&D sector, attracting investment into the resources supply chain and attracting direct capital into Brisbane’s exploration sector.

• HOTEL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

It is one of the main ideas in Brisbane which is targeting institutional property investors and owner operators in the global hotel industry and also connecting them to developable opportunities in the city. The joint efforts of Brisbane marketing and the Queensland government developed a strategy in response to the research commission. The city of Brisbane was losing almost 87,000 visitors a year due to room supply shortages. Three new hotels were under construction within a span of 12 months.

The Foreign Direct Investment flowing into Australia is growing continuously. It is also positioned globally as a destination of choice for business investment. Brisbane is Australia’s new world city that strengthens its identity as an emerging global city supportive of investment from key industry sectors. A three-year campaign was launched to recognize Brisbane as a global city. The campaign moved the investment from 4 per cent to 27 per cent. Brisbane has good reasons to be optimistic about the future and recognize itself as a new world city.