A new master plan is being prepared for the former Toombul Shopping Centre site, giving Brisbane’s northside its clearest update yet on how the landmark Nundah property is expected to return after years of closure, demolition and uncertainty. The latest planning direction places retail at the front of the redevelopment, with the first stage expected to bring back the shopping centre functions locals have been waiting for: a department store, a supermarket or grocery store, a food court, specialty retail, early public realm parkland and the access works needed to reactivate the site.
The project is being advanced as a staged, retail led mixed use precinct at 1015 Sandgate Road, with the first development application expected in late July 2026 and construction targeted for April 2027 if approvals proceed as anticipated. That gives the site a more defined pathway than it has had since the old centre closed after the 2022 floods, because the next step is no longer simply a future intention to redevelop Toombul, but an expected application for the first retail stage of the new centre.
The redevelopment is being led by The Irvine Group, with Urbis involved across planning, urban design, traffic and community engagement. The current planning work is focused on setting the framework for a precinct that can restore everyday shopping while also dealing with the site’s larger challenges, including flood resilience, Kedron Brook, transport integration, pedestrian movement, future residential development and the way a large former shopping centre site should operate in a changing part of Brisbane’s north.
The First Stage Has A More Defined Retail Shape
The first stage is expected to carry the most immediate community interest because it is the part of the project that would bring shopping back to Toombul. A department store, supermarket or grocery store, food court and specialty retail tenancies are expected to form the core of the initial retail offer, with early parkland and access works also forming part of the opening stage. That mix points to a practical return of the centre’s everyday role, rather than a token retail presence within a much larger development.
Toombul’s strongest role was always practical. People used it for groceries, department store errands, a quick meal, public transport connections, everyday services and short trips from the surrounding suburbs. By putting those uses into the first stage, the redevelopment starts with the part of Toombul people are most likely to use immediately, before the wider mixed use precinct takes shape over later stages.
Store names have obviously not been locked in this early in the process. The current work is focused on the master plan, land uses and the structure of the precinct, with the tenant mix to become clearer closer to delivery. What matters at this stage is that the first phase is being planned around the return of major everyday retail uses, while the actual leasing decisions will follow as the design and delivery program progresses.
Late July 2026 Is The Next Key Date
The next major milestone is expected to be the lodgement of the first development application in late July 2026. That application should provide the first detailed public view of the initial retail stage, including the building layout, access points, early public realm works, movement network, servicing arrangements, parking approach and flood responsive design measures. It should also show how the first stage is intended to sit within the larger master plan, rather than being assessed as an isolated shopping centre project.
An approximate six month assessment period is being assumed, with construction hoped to begin in April 2027 if the application moves through the approval process as planned. Those dates are not an opening date, and they remain subject to assessment, conditions, design refinement and construction planning, but they do give Toombul a clearer sequence: master plan preparation, Stage 1 retail application, assessment, then a targeted construction start if approvals are secured.
For a site that has spent years in a holding pattern, the timing is one of the most newsworthy parts of the update. Toombul has already passed through the flood damage period, the decision not to reopen the old centre, demolition and eventual sale. The expected Stage 1 application now shifts attention to the actual planning test for the new centre, where the broad idea of a retail led precinct will need to be translated into plans that can be assessed against traffic, flooding, public space, built form and local impact.
A Master Plan Before The Detailed Stages
The master plan is intended to establish the overall structure of the site before individual stages move into detailed proposals. That means setting the major land uses, building envelopes, key public spaces, road connections, pedestrian and cycle routes, transport links and the relationship between the opening retail stage and the later mixed use components. The approach gives the site a long term framework rather than allowing each part of the redevelopment to emerge separately without a clear precinct structure.
That sequencing is particularly important at Toombul because the site has more constraints and opportunities than a standard suburban shopping centre redevelopment. It sits beside Kedron Brook, is connected to a major bus interchange, is close to rail, has direct access from Sandgate Road, serves a large northside catchment and has a recent flood history that will influence almost every major design decision. The new master plan therefore has to do more than allocate space for shops and future homes. It has to explain how movement, resilience, landscape, public space and staging will work together.
The current precinct vision includes a renewed retail core, new public spaces and landscaped areas, walkable connections, integrated public transport links, flood resilient design and flexibility for future stages. Residential uses are proposed as part of the broader site, but the primary focus remains the delivery of the retail shopping centre, which keeps the early planning emphasis on the use that surrounding suburbs are most likely to notice first.
Flood Resilience Sits At The Centre Of The Project
Flood resilience is one of the central tests for the new Toombul. The former centre’s closure after the 2022 floods means any redevelopment has to respond directly to the site’s history, local flood behaviour and public expectations around safe, reliable long term operation. The future design is expected to consider building form, floor levels, layout, landscape treatment, access, servicing and the way the precinct performs during major rain events.
The project team has identified flood risk as a fundamental consideration in preparing the master plan, with work being undertaken with Council and technical flood engineering experts to help ensure the redevelopment is designed for long term resilience and does not worsen impacts on surrounding areas. That will be a major part of how the first development application is assessed, because the site’s future depends on more than the return of retail floorspace. It depends on whether the new centre can operate with greater confidence in a location that is already understood through the experience of flood damage.
The design challenge is therefore practical as well as symbolic. The renewed Toombul needs to show how shops, parking, public spaces, transport connections, essential services and pedestrian movement can be arranged on a flood affected site without repeating the weaknesses of the former centre. A stronger design response could become one of the defining features of the redevelopment, especially if resilience is built into the structure of the precinct rather than treated as a technical layer added late in the process.
Kedron Brook Could Shape The Public Realm
Kedron Brook is expected to become a more important part of Toombul’s next chapter. The site sits beside the creek corridor, and the master plan is expected to incorporate landscaped green space, public realm works and better connections along that edge. The early retail stage is expected to include public realm parkland, while the wider precinct vision includes green spaces where people can meet, relax and spend time outdoors.
That could mark a major change in how the site feels. The old Toombul was known primarily as an enclosed shopping centre and transport linked retail destination, while the next version has the opportunity to make landscape, outdoor movement and creekside public space part of the precinct’s identity. If the Kedron Brook edge is handled well, it could give the redevelopment a more open and locally grounded character, with shaded paths, outdoor dining, landscaped gathering spaces and pedestrian links that connect the retail core to the surrounding area.
The project will still need to work within the practical limits of the site and the fact that parts of the creek interface sit beyond the property boundary. Even so, the future design is expected to respond to the setting of Kedron Brook through landscape, environmental and public realm outcomes that improve connectivity and reinforce the character of the corridor. That makes the creek edge one of the most important details to watch when the first plans become public.
Transport Integration Will Be A Major Test
Toombul’s transport position remains one of the strongest reasons the site matters. It sits beside the Toombul bus interchange, near rail, close to major roads and within reach of established neighbourhoods across Brisbane’s north. The new precinct is expected to include integrated public transport connections, direct access from Sandgate Road, clear internal movement and stronger pedestrian friendly spaces that connect the site to surrounding areas.
The bus interchange will be especially important. It is a key part of the local public transport network and the functionality of the site, so the future precinct will need to show how buses, pedestrians, shoppers, residents, cyclists and vehicles can move through and around the redevelopment without creating a disconnected or difficult layout. Discussions with transport stakeholders are expected to shape how the interchange is integrated into the future precinct.
Toombul’s old convenience came partly from the way retail and transport sat together in one place. The new version has an opportunity to improve that relationship with a clearer, more walkable layout, better public spaces and a stronger connection between the retail core, public transport and surrounding streets. If that part of the design works, Toombul could return not only as a shopping centre, but as a more functional northside meeting point.
Residential Towers Are Expected In Later Stages
Residential development remains part of the longer term mixed use vision. Current planning is understood to include four to five residential towers, with discussions taking place around the potential to build beyond the height currently envisaged for the site. Existing planning controls have been understood to allow a general range of about eight to ten storeys, although the final height, built form and residential mix will depend on later design work and approvals.
Those later stages are expected to be lodged after 2026 and may include further retail extensions as well as residential uses. Possible short term accommodation has also been identified as part of later stage planning, although the final mix has not been confirmed. That means the retail stage is only the beginning of a larger precinct plan, with the long term site expected to include a wider combination of shopping, homes, public space and other uses.
The residential component will likely attract close community attention when detailed plans emerge. Height, traffic, parking, privacy, amenity, built form and the relationship between new homes and the retail centre will all matter, particularly because the site sits between major transport infrastructure, open space and established neighbourhoods. The challenge will be to make future residential stages feel like part of a coherent precinct rather than a separate layer added above or beside the shopping centre.
A Large Catchment And A Familiar Local Role
Toombul’s location gives the redevelopment a substantial local catchment across Brisbane’s north. The site is positioned near Nundah, Clayfield, Kalinga, Hendra and Northgate, with surrounding suburbs forming the primary catchment for the renewed precinct. That helps explain why the redevelopment has generated such strong public interest: the old centre served a role beyond its property boundaries, supporting local services, employment, transport linked shopping and everyday social connection.
The project vision places that catchment at the centre of the site’s future, with the renewed precinct intended to support everyday needs and social activity through retail, dining, public spaces, green areas and improved connections. The goal is not simply to refill a cleared retail site, but to return Toombul to a more active role in the surrounding community, with a master plan that allows the precinct to evolve through multiple stages as demand, design and community needs change.
That broader role will be important as the project progresses. A department store and supermarket may bring people back first, but the longer term success of Toombul will depend on how well the whole precinct works as a place to arrive, move through, shop, meet, eat, live near and return to. The master plan therefore needs to balance practical retail convenience with the more complex task of creating public spaces and connections that people use comfortably every day.
A Site With A Long History
The former Toombul Shopping Centre opened in 1967 and became one of Brisbane’s best known suburban centres before its closure after major flood damage in 2022. Its later demolition left a highly visible gap at 1015 Sandgate Road, with the site remaining a focus of local discussion because of its scale, location and everyday importance to surrounding suburbs.
Before the site moved into its current redevelopment phase, earlier work had already considered issues such as traffic, building heights, flood solutions and a draft master plan. The sale to The Irvine Group created the next step in that process, with the new owner now advancing a retail led mixed use future for the land. The difference in the latest update is the sharper focus on the first stage, the expected late July 2026 development application and the clearer indication of how retail, public space, transport and later residential stages may fit together.
That history gives the new Toombul a different level of public attention from a standard shopping centre redevelopment. Locals remember the centre through daily use: groceries, department store trips, food court meals, bus connections, parking, cinema visits, family errands and the familiar habit of stopping at Toombul while moving through the northside. The next version will not be judged only by its architecture or scale. It will be judged by whether it restores that usefulness while responding properly to the flood and access issues that now define the site’s future.
The Comeback Is Becoming More Concrete
The latest update gives Toombul a more concrete redevelopment path. A master plan is being prepared, the first stage is expected to bring back major retail uses, the first development application is expected in late July 2026 and construction is being targeted for April 2027 if approvals proceed. Later stages are expected to carry the mixed use vision further, with residential towers, additional retail, possible short term accommodation and a stronger public realm forming part of the longer term picture.
For Brisbane’s northside, the most important part is that the first step is aimed at returning retail activity to the site. The development still has to pass through assessment, detailed design and delivery, and the final tenant mix will come later, but Toombul is now moving into a more defined planning phase after years of uncertainty. The next milestone will be the Stage 1 application, which should show whether the new Toombul can combine everyday shopping, flood resilience, transport integration, Kedron Brook public space and future mixed use growth into a precinct that feels useful from the beginning.
This information is general in nature and is based on publicly available project details at the time of publication. Redevelopment plans, assessment timeframes, construction targets, staging, tenant mix and final design outcomes may change as planning, approvals, leasing and delivery progress. Readers should not treat this information as legal, planning, financial, property or investment advice, and should seek advice from appropriately qualified professionals where needed.
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