Journal Garden Place – Setting a New Standard for Premium Purpose-Built Student Living

Construction is underway on Journal Garden Place at 240 Margaret Street, a premium 952-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) delivered by Multiplex for Citiplan and Brookfield Asset Management under the Journal Student Living banner. This 32-level development centres around a subtropical theme and will provide students with a socially immersive experience through its highly liveable, connected vertical community.
Margaret Street is an attractive site for both domestic and international students, given its close proximity to Brisbane’s major tertiary institutions, as well as high value developments such as the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, Queens Wharf, and Cross River Rail.


As Brisbane CBD continues to grow as a sought-after destination for tertiary studies and international tourism, the demand for premium student accommodation is rising. Garden Place as a PBSA will help meet this demand by offering premium amenities, building a strong sense of community, and continuing the revitalisation of this burgeoning precinct of the CBD.
Brendan Gaffney, COX Director
We’re excited to be working with Multiplex again, especially on this prestigious inner-city complex that provides real insights into the premium-end of Student Living. We’ve ensured this new facility in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD adopts a sub-tropical persona, providing students with an authentic Queensland connection to place.
The key consideration for this development was to provide a truly immersive experience that reflects community-building, connectedness, and creating a ‘home away from home.’ Unlike typical student accommodation, each room at Garden Place is designed for privacy and convenience, featuring its own ensuite and kitchenette, showcasing its premium positioning.
Additionally, COX has strategically dedicated 150% of Garden Place’s site area to open space, featuring an activated green podium, a double-height ground level with a layered façade, and a sky terrace with lush integrated planting.


Upon completion, this 5-Star Green Building Council Australia (GBSA) development will feature extensive indoor and outdoor communal spaces, including a gym, study areas, a library, an alfresco dining area, a cinema, games spaces, a café, and a planted glazed lobby entrance. These spaces will be interconnected across multiple levels of the podium, enhancing accessibility and flow.
These communal spaces feature interlocking voids, naturally lit circulation, amphitheatres and sculptural stairs, that work together to organically foster a sense of community, interaction and social immersion. Journal Student Living takes this one step further by curating the use of these amenities for events such as Friday BBQs, rooftop stargazing, themed breakfasts, and other activations as a part of their accommodation packages.



Garden Place is designed to be a place where students feel connected and part of something greater than themselves, a celebration of its locality and neighborhoods. With its carefully curated amenities and embedded amenity, it is set to become a blueprint for future PBSAs and help meet the growing demands of the premium end of student accommodation.
Garden Place is anticipated to be completed and operational in early 2027.
