A new 40-storey office tower will be built in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD with a large and unusual public “city room” on the ground floor.

The building will replace the existing 10-storey Edison Exchange at 280 Elizabeth Street, next to the back section of the General Post Office and opposite St Stephen’s Cathedral.

It will include more than 38,000 square metres of office space, an internal gym and a cafe on the ground floor.

“[This will] reinforce the character of Elizabeth Street, while enhancing connectivity, workplace amenity and the quality of Brisbane’s public realm,” a development application lodged with the council said.

Artist impressions show the first 10 storeys will be clad in white concrete, with the remaining being a more conventional glass design.

The ground level will comprise a large atrium-like space called a “City Room” with pedestrian access through to Edison Lane.

Just six car parking spaces are planned, but there will be room for 192 bicycles.

Cbus Property bought the existing building in 2026, and is developing the tower.

It said significant effort had gone into making the building’s design blend with its heritage-listed surroundings, which includes the post office.

The building was designed by Hassell, and Richards and Spence. Hutchinson has been contracted to build it.

This masthead has contacted Cbus Property for comment on when it expected work to begin.

Early demolition work on the existing building had already started on Thursday afternoon.

The Edison Exchange building was developed in 1963 by the federal government for telecommunications, and used for years by Telstra.

Cbus Property was also the developer behind the tower at 205 North Quay, completed in 2024.

According to a JLL report in 2025, vacancy rates in Brisbane’s CBD office market were the least volatile in the country during the past decade.