Queensland government-owned properties in Ipswich will be targeted for urban renewal, as outlined under a wider strategy that includes land sales.
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And government-owned land has also been identified for new solar farms.
It comes as the Palaszczuk government announced its "advancing our cities and regions" strategy on Thursday.
It is understood the Queensland government will work with council and industry to identify potential projects in Ipswich. This could range from co-investment in development, public-private partnerships or selling land.
The strategy reveals several "vacant and under-utilised state-owned properties", unrelated to Cross River Rail, were identified for major urban renewal in south-east Queensland.
Investigations are under way into precincts including the revitalisation of the Ipswich CBD, in collaboration with the Ipswich City Council and other state agencies.
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale welcomed the decision, but said there were successes and mistakes made by state governments in the past.
Cr Pisasale said the old TAFE college in Ellenborough St had been sold by the state government and turned into a boutique brewery.
"It's now the Pumpyard brewery. It was sitting idle and there was no business in the middle of town but now it's really working and drawing people in," Cr Pisasale said.
"What we'd like to ask is that the state government works with the local governments to choose the best sites."
Cr Pisasale said a mistake had been made when Blackstone State School was sold because it was used by lots of community groups.
"We would really like to see them work with councils to make sure these sales happen properly," he said.
The site of the former Oxley Secondary College is also being targeted under the strategy, with the community to be consulted on how to use the site.
Economic Development Queensland will also identify large sites of surplus and underperforming government-owned land in regional Queensland that have the potential to become large-scale renewable energy developments, mainly in the form of solar farms, the strategy reads.
The plan states that working with Ergon Energy, EDQ has already identified a "number of potential sites" close to existing Ergon Energy infrastructure that could be suitable for solar energy developments.
- with Tony Moore
