Another service centre/showroom coming to Brisbane:
Tesla to open Red Hill showroom, service centre in Fruit Ninja HQ
Electric vehicle maker Tesla will open its latest showroom and service centre at the old Sunny Queen Eggs building, behind the landmark Normanby Hotel in Brisbane’s inner-west.
The three-level heritage-listed building will be refurbished and extended, but there will be no public charging station.
Tesla increased Australian prices for the new Model Y by more than $3000 within days of the car going on sale in June, but it was still the third biggest-selling car in the country in October.
The news comes after Tesla opened a new Mount Gravatt showroom and service centre only three weeks ago, with 150 people turning up on the opening day.
The luxury car brand previously only had two dealerships in the state, at Fortitude Valley and Southport.
The affluent inner-west has one of Brisbane’s highest uptakes of electric cars, particularly Teslas, despite the entry-level Model Y Rear-Wheel-Drive starting at a steep $72,300 — before on-road costs.
A 370 sqm showroom would be built on level 2 and the car service centre on ground level and level 1.
There would be 78 car parks, less than the Council requirement, but consultants TTM said in a traffic report that peak customer demand was expected only to be 39 spaces at any one time.
Six per cent of site massive 10,000 sqm site, fronting Musgrave and Kelvin Grove roads, would be landscaped.
The sole public submission so far was from a resident who said landscaped six per cent of the site was insufficient and a “wasted opportunity.
Nearby, heritage-listed Kelvin Grove Rd fig trees and a listed WWII air raid shelter would not be touched.
Minor internal and external demolition was necessary, but the developer said the new facade would be more visually appealing.
“The showroom is provided with direct access from the Musgrave Road frontage, with its facade being upgraded with clear glazing in parts to allow for this,’’ the development application (DA) documents said.
“The proposal involves minimal works on site and will rely on the adaptive reuse and needed refurbishment of the existing buildings.
“In its current form, the existing building is an under-utilised and visually unappealing development.
“The proposal seeks to revitalise the existing building, delivering a considerable improvement to the architectural form, streetscape presence, and embellishments along the site frontages.
“Notably, Musgrave Road elevation will present a highly activated and attractive design to considerably improve the current streetscape presence and act as the primary pedestrian entry point.
“Key design element includes glazing along the majority of the facade, variations in colours material treatments, and rooftop trough planters with shrub and cascading planting.’’
The Queensland Egg Board building was put up for sale in 2016 and Sunny Queen moved to a new manufacturing and distribution centre at Carole Park the next year.
The current owners have held the property since 1995.
It underwent a $5.5 million refurbishment before Halfbrick Studios, creators of iPhone app Fruit Ninja, the most downloaded iPhone app in history, took up a long-term lease.
