Nine’s Mount Coot-tha TV station to be listed for sale

After more than six decades in operation, the Nine Queensland television studios at Mount Coot-tha are set to be listed for sale.

The facility on Sir Samuel Griffith Drive comprises large television studios from where the channel’s flagship nightly news program is broadcast, as well as extensive infrastructure.

An internal email sent to staff at Nine, which owns this masthead, said the needs of the company had changed significantly since the site opened in 1959.

It added the location would be listed for sale by Savills to gauge market interest.

“As Brisbane City Council develops a new master plan for Mount Coot-tha, we are taking this opportunity to explore options for a unified future home for Nine in Queensland,” managing director Kylie Blucher wrote in the email.

“Understanding the current market value of our Mount Coot-tha site is a critical first step.

“Testing the market allows us to evaluate what is possible, though any eventual move will depend on whether the economics make sense.

Brisbane City Council has multiple projects in the works on the mountain, and has been planning for a future when television stations have left the area.

“We know there are parts of Mount Coot-tha that need some love and there are also opportunities to improve areas that are already built on,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said in a statement.

“The television sites are a good example of the opportunity to improve the mountain without impacting precious bushland.

“They’ve played an important role in Brisbane history and, as technology changes, it’s worth considering how these existing sites could be renewed and reimagined in the future.

“We’re planning ahead now so Mount Coot-tha remains a place Brisbane residents can be proud of for generations to come.”

Arms of Nine Entertainment are separated across the city with Brisbane Times located in the CBD.

Radio station 4BC, part of the company until earlier this year, owns its site in Cannon Hill.