IT used to be one of Brisbane’s smallest suburbs, home to 500 people just 10 years ago.
Then it was put on the map by a suite of international tennis stars.
The aptly named area of Tennyson is gearing up for another big summer as the Brisbane International gets underway in the first week of January.
Fan favourite Raphael Nadal will compete in the Queensland tournament for the first time, while Aussie star Sam Stosur will return for her seventh appearance.
Tennyson — located seven kilometres southwest of the Brisbane CBD — was identified as the new home of tennis following the closure of the site at Milton in 1999.
The Queensland Tennis Centre opened along King Arthur Terrace in January 2009.
The same year exclusive apartment complex Tennyson Reach opened across the road.
Harcourts Graceville principal David Gowdie said it virtually doubled the population of the suburb.
“Tennyson was the smallest suburb in Brisbane for a long period of time until the apartment complex went in,” he said.
“It was an area no one really knew.”
But that all changed with the introduction of the Brisbane International.
Queensland Tennis Centre operator Wayne Brumm said the tournament put Tennyson “on the map”.
“It’s regarded as Australia’s second best event next to the Australian Open,” he said.
“A lot of the players love coming here.”
But Mr Brumm — who also chairs Tennis Brisbane — said he wanted people to know the centre wasn’t just for professional players.
“The truth is outside of the Brisbane International we run a normal tennis club,” he said.
“From three-year-olds to 103-year-olds, we’ve got programs for everyone.”
Brisbane residents can also practice their serve on the main stage, Pat Rafter Arena.
Keith Braithwaite owns the management rights at Tennyson Reach.
Mr Braithwaite said many residents were keen tennis and golfers who enjoyed having easy access to the centre.
“They are generally empty nesters, but there are a fair few young ones in there too,” he said.
Mr Brumm said he wanted the Queensland Tennis Centre to be a place where people did more than just play tennis.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a birthday party that they want to hold, a special event, a semi-formal, a corporate day or an inter-schools event,” he said.
“We want to make sure we’ve got a whole range of products we can deliver and are easily accessible.
“It’s not just the tennis, it’s everything around the tennis as well.
“We’re very big on sense of belonging so that people will choose to hang out here as well.”
The Queensland Tennis Centre may have put Tennyson on the map, but the traditional heart of the suburb lies due west of the complex.
Exclusive riverfront homes line the north side of King Arthur Terrace.
The gated mansions have some of the best waterfront property in Brisbane, with views extending over the Brisbane River and Indooroopilly Golf Club.
Mr Gowdie said the prestigious homes were valued at anywhere from $1m up to $5.5m.
“On the other side of the road there are some significant development of new builds on 400sq metre blocks,” he said.
“The median on that side is around $900,000 to $1m.”
The remaining eight or so residential streets sit back from the river.
Each have equally regal names, including Lancelot and Camelot.
Mr Gowdie said Vivian and Lancelot streets were badly affected by the 2011 floods, because of their proximity to Oxley Creek.
“In the area post flood there were some significant reductions in some of the lower lying areas,” he said.
Ground floor apartments at Tennyson Reach were also flooded.
Looking to the future, Mr Gowdie said the new Yeerongpilly Green development — located to the east of the Queensland Tennis Centre — would further contribute to the rise of Tennyson.
“It’s a suburb that is going to go through some significant renewal,” he said.
“It’s just going to get better and better.
“We recommend for our investors it’s somewhere they should seriously consider.”
Originally Published at: http://www.couriermail.com.au/