The cane fields (briefly) considered for Brisbane 2032’s main stadium

When the Games Independent Infrastructure and Co-ordination Authority handed down its 100-day review in March, it revealed 16 options had been considered for the main Olympic stadium.

Along with five variations of a Gabba upgrade or rebuild, GIICA weighed the merits of Victoria Park, which ultimately got the nod. The other options were Gabba West at the former GoPrint site, Albion Park, Northshore Hamilton, the RNA Brisbane Showgrounds, Doomben Racecourse, Mayne Railyards, Toombul, QSAC, Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, and the Island at Stapylton.

Hold on – the what at where?

Of all the Olympic possibilities, the Island at Stapylton stood out as a mysterious proposal that had, until the release of the 100-day review, evaded public consciousness.

The project, which will go by a different name, is the brainchild of Yellowwood founder and long-term local developer Brendan O’Leary.

Yellowwood– named after a tree that grew on nearby Mount Stapylton – planned to build the stadium precinct on what is now cane fields, not far from the Beenleigh Rum distillery.

Ultimately, the Stapylton proposal was not shortlisted for further consideration. Neither GIICA nor the Department of State Development would answer questions about its merits, or lack thereof, as the Games centrepiece.

But O’Leary said the project, which he expected to be under way by next April and completed within about five years, was not about 2032.

“The Olympics, commercially, is just a sugar hit. It’s a wonderful thing, and we’re going to be involved in a number of ways, but this is about getting kids off screens and into sport,” he said.

Plans for the 168-hectare site include a 25,000-seat rectangular stadium with an integrated hotel at the tip of the peninsula, formed by the winding Albert River.

They also include a 12,500-seat convention centre, a marina, a 2.8-hectare swimming lagoon, a tennis centre, an athletics track, beach volleyball, a golf driving range and on-site power waste-to-energy power plants.

There would also be 1800 apartments over nine 17-storey towers along the Albert River at the southern side of the peninsula.

O’Leary said the project, which he estimated would cost about $4 billion, would be fully privately funded, with the bulk of the money coming from a wealthy philanthropic European family.

Just don’t ask him to name the benefactor.

“In the very first meeting when I was introduced to them through a family friend who’s worked for them – he’s their Australian representative – he said, ‘here’s the deal – you talk about us, we pull the funding there and then’,” he said.

“We don’t really understand old money in Australia.”

Privately built stadiums are a rarity in Australia. Melbourne club Western United was admitted to the A-League on the promise of a 15,000-seat stadium in the city’s western outer fringes.

But that stadium never materialised and the beleaguered club has been placed in “hibernation” for the upcoming season.

O’Leary said he was confident Yellowwood could succeed where Western United failed, even without an anchor tenant to call the stadium home.

“We can react very quickly. Our stadium management team – 40-something people will be joining us – have said the very best you could expect out of a government-owned stadium is 18 events a year,” he said.

“We are going for 42.”

O’Leary said those events would include rectangular sports – such as soccer, the rugby codes and American football – and concerts.

“It’s all about the local community and if we support them, and if we work hard every day to make sure that the visitor experience is in as enjoyable as possible, they’ll just keep coming back – especially if we can get either an A-League soccer team, or rugby union or rugby league,” he said.

“We’ll have the best facilities of any sporting organisation in the entire country, and by a country mile.”

But O’Leary conceded getting people in and out would be a challenge.

The nearest train station is Beenleigh, a little more than a kilometre away – though the Pacific Motorway is a significant barrier.

“It’s an excellent question, and a lot of people smarter than I are working on that right now,” O’Leary said of the transport issues.

The Coomera Connector will eventually pass to the west of the site, and O’Leary said an extended southern busway could also help.

He said Yellowwood was in discussions with the Queensland government – representatives of which visited the site last week – about designating the project a priority development area.

But, following this story’s publication, an Economic Development Queensland spokesman said a PDA was not being considered for the site.

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