After almost 100 years producing milk on the Brisbane riverfront, the historic Pauls and Parmalat dairy factory is set for a dramatic transformation tied to the 2032 Olympics.
Parent company Lactalis announced in January the closure of one of South Bank’s last major industrial operations, leaving five hectares of prime riverside land open for redevelopment.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Olympian power couple unveils plans for historic factory site
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Triple Olympic medallist Mark Stockwell and wife Tracy Caulkins have now snapped up the site nestled between the William Jolly Bridge and the Merivale rail bridge through their private property company, Stockwell, hoping to build a legacy for Queensland’s capital.
The power couple met at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics while competing for Australia and the United States in the pool.
“The Olympics has been the start of our journey,” Stockwell said.
“To expose Brisbane to that Olympic journey and that Olympic story and that Olympic ideals is a very positive thing.”
The couple already owns another former Lactalis site across Montague Rd and now controls a major slice of South Brisbane riverfront land.
Plans for the new precinct include 12 residential towers, a 400-room hotel, riverside parklands, entertainment spaces and a public stage.
A major feature would be a proposed “Beer Mile” linking the Convention Centre and Fish Lane to Suncorp Stadium through a trail of bars and taprooms stretching under the rail line and across the Go Between Bridge.
“A place for Brisbane that’s on the doorstep of the city,” Stockwell said.
“When we’re standing here you’ve got seven bridges that link you.”
Stockwell also wants to lobby Brisbane 2032 organisers to host skateboarding and sport climbing at the site, making it a centrepiece for the Games.
The proposal includes a “champions walk” celebrating elite athletes and aims to turn the former industrial site into a Games-era entertainment hub.
“Brisbane is becoming a world-class city and Brisbane is about to be a world-known city,” Stockwell said.
The development is expected to take between 10 and 15 years, meaning only parts of the precinct would likely be completed before the Olympics.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the plans.
“It’s really exciting to see a renewal happening in that location,” he said.
Urban planning expert Ross Elliott from Suburban Futures said Brisbane’s remaining inner-city industrial land was rapidly disappearing.
“If you think about all of the older inner-city industrial sites that have given way to new mixed-use communities and people love the after … no one wants the before,” he said.
The neighbouring Visy glass factory site, which has operated as a glass manufacturing facility since at least 1920, is also earmarked for redevelopment.
Together, the former dairy and glass plants formed the industrial backbone of the riverfront for generations before South Bank’s transformation into a cultural, entertainment and residential precinct.
The 7.1-hectare site is one of the last major industrial parcels so close to the CBD, with about 400 metres of river frontage.
At the former Parmalat factory, Lactalis workers will remain on site until September before redevelopment can begin.
