Devine Makes a Killing at Hamilton Harbour

"Devine reported the sales success at Hamilton Harbour as one of the highlights of its financial year as it reported an underlying profit after tax of $11.1 million but a statutory after tax loss of $12.9 million.

Devine says 90% of total apartments in the two Hamilton Harbour towers have now been settled.  Construction of both towers is now complete with a third tower now under construction.  There are 13 apartments available for purchase in tower one and 31 available in tower two.

Devine says the inner-Brisbane market, the focus of more than 40 apartment projects by a variety of developers, is now stable after a “prolonged period of weakness” with successive quarters of good volume sales.

The Hamilton Harbour precinct located between Racecourse Road and the Brisbane River in Hamilton is a joint venture between Devine and Leighton Properties with one-bedroom apartments starting at $425,000.  Devine says price is continuing to drive the majority of sales with 70% of unconditional sales under $550,000.

Devine expects Tower three settlements to commence prior to December 2012 and contribute to current year earnings with almost 70% of this tower contracted."

Extract from Property Observer article

Failed Settlements At Hamilton Harbour

Devine reports that as at 8 February, 384 settlements had occurred for the apartments in Towers 1 and 2 at Hamilton Harbour.

Devine also reported to the ASX this week the following information:

• Hamilton Harbour (Towers One &Two) settlements commenced with 85% of contracted pre-sales settled prior to 31 December 2011 
• This strong completion result is testimony to the quality outcome at Hamilton Harbour
• Sales activity within the third residential tower has improved and continues into 2012.

I think it is somewhat funny that Devine thinks that a settlement rate of 85% is a strong result.  Maybe there were expecting a lot worse.  There are 469 apartments in total in Towers One & Two.  So assuming that all have sold, this means that 70 buyers did not settle.  That is a large number of contracts to crash.

Why buy in the third tower, when you have a choice of 70 failed contracts in the first and second towers?

Hamilton One (also called Harbour One)

Here is a comment sent to me by a reader:

Recently, I arranged an inspection of apartments for sale in Hamilton One.  I am in the market so the request for an inspection was 100% genuine. 
The complex was only just finished. The thing that turned me straight off permanently in my particular situation, was that all the one bedroom apts do not have an oven to cook with and there is no provision for one, just a two-burner gas top. They have put in a movable bench-top convection microwave. It would be impossible to put a small gas BBQ on the balcony because the balcony’s are essentially closed in albeit for the concertina sliding windows which are up at about eye level upwards so the gas BBQ would essentially be inside, a VERY BIG no-no.  Of course, horses for courses and some people don’t cook, (I suppose??) so they may see that as a plus. Micro-waved and wok-cooked food does not appeal to me personally. 
While prices are advertised at $300,000 for one bedroom, that’s with a view of other high rise buildings, and no car park. I guess if you don’t have a car that’s fine, why pay for one if you don’t need or want it? I personally could not do without one. Therefore for me with a car, I think from memory (check for yourself) that one needed about a $415,000 start to have a car park however, that did include a reasonable view (in my opinion) since the one brm apts with car parks are on higher floors than those one brm apts without a car park. 
The concertina windows when open did seem to provide good ventilation and individually controlled ducted air con is throughout. The apt’s did have plenty of natural light which I thought was good, though another seven story complex is now under construction on the Nth side so that may impact on light, maybe not. 
Comms are Optus only. I personally did not like that “no-choice” option. According to the agent, hot water is individually metered from a central (gas??) boiler that distributes hot water around the complex and water is individually metered. I’m not sure how one went about getting electricity. I wonder what the unit rate for those utilities is? Foxtel is wired in, buy it yourself if you want it. 
The sales agent while quite pleasant seemed otherwise busy so other than a couple of apartment configurations, I was not shown around the complex to see the pool and any other facilities that may be there. I saw one pool though I think there may be two???

Northshore Hamilton

The $5 billion Northshore Hamilton urban redevelopment is underway, with thousands of apartments expected to be built in the next 10 years.  About 15,000 new residents are expected to move into this area, which is an old port and industrial precinct 6 km down river from Brisbane City.

• Two Devine apartment buildings are almost complete, with a third on the way.
• Brookfield Multiplex is building another Portside apartment building, Promenade (172 apartment), with two more planned.
• Citimark has development approval for Rivana, 15 levels with 208 apartments.
• Mirvac has a three building apartment complex planned, with a sales display office constructed onsite.
• Australand has launched 78 apartments as part of its $400 million project, Hamilton Reach.

Will there be an oversupply of small, non-riverfront apartments in this part of Hamilton, where there are few facilities and not much within walking distance?

Devine's Hamilton Harbour

Hamilton Harbour is a three building apartment complex (plus one additional building of commercial space) currently being developed by Devine.  Two of the three buildings are almost complete.

According to Place Real Estate Agents, across the three buildings there are 658 apartments.  There are 125 apartments remaining for sale (mostly in the third building).  In the September 2011 quarter, 14 apartments sold (about one a week).  At this rate, it will take 26 months to sell the remaining apartments.

One beds are listed for rent from $300 a week, two beds from $510 a week, and three beds from $850 a week.

Here are some recent photographs, taken from the Portside area, of the two finished buildings.

Will Hamilton Harbour Buyers Settle?

"Hamilton Harbour’s settlement rate should be on the development industry’s “must watch list”. Hamilton Harbour is a litmus test for the Brisbane apartment market – a beachhead, if you will."

All investors in Brisbane apartments should read this note by Matusik.

From Devine's Report

French Quarter in Alice Street Brisbane

"Continuing to progress the submission of an application for a development approval for this exciting future redevelopment opportunity."

Hamilton Harbour

"Excellent market response to the first stage of the “Hamilton Harbour” residential development"

"Development approval now received and marketing of first stage of residential commenced March 2009. First stage 86% sold."

"Strong pre-sales of residential units in Hamilton Harbour stage 1 with 86% of 257 units now sold. (This project is also a JV with Leighton Properties)"

Commencement Dec Qtr 2009
Est. Completion Staged development over approximately 5 years

Source

200 Apartments Sold At Hamilton Harbour

"After launching the first residential offering in early March, Hamilton Harbour joint-venture partners Leighton Properties and Devine have achieved their first major milestone – achieving 200 sales.

Selling out more than $100 million worth of apartments in just over four months is a triumph for the developers, which have attributed strong sales to the developments’ Hamilton location.

Devine National Marketing Director Ken Woodley says more than 80 percent of buyers are from Brisbane."

Construction has not yet commenced.

http://www.qbr.com.au/news/articleid/57924.aspx

Harbour One Launch!

Ken Woodley, the Marketing Director for Devine, left the Harbour One sales office in Hamilton this afternoon with a big smile on his face. As he drove back to his large apartment in the Mirvac Quay West building in Brisbane, he was no doubt thinking about the 85 apartments that his team "sold" by way of expression of interest over the past two weeks in the Hamilton Harbour development.

The glossy brochure for Hamilton Harbour given out at the sales office is very impressive. You can feel the quality in the brochure. It is a shame that the brochure is misleading. There are nice PhotoShopped photos (i.e., fake photos) that show happy people on balconys with impressive river views. However, no apartment in Harbour One will have a balcony with the designs shown in the brochure, and the views will not be anywhere near as impressive (because there are buildings between Harbour One and the river.) And is it correct to say "Waterside Living" for a building on Kingsford Smith Drive that is two blocks back from the river with no direct river views?

The apartments with the best views face West, which is not great in a Brisbane summer.

The apartments are small and expensive. There are only three elevators for 238 apartments! There is no gym included -- you can join a commercial gym being built on the site. The living areas for most apartments have popcorn ceilings with oyster lights -- not the highest quality. Many one bed apartments do not have a car park. And a number of the one bed apartments do not even have a laundry -- not even a cupboard with a washing machine or dryer.

Type A One bedroom
41 sqm internal, 50 sqm total
No river views.
No car park.
No laundry.
Kitchen is a strip of cupboards in living room.
No room for dining table inside -- plan shows dining table on balcony.
Sliding doors to bedroom.
Price range - $295,000 to $385,000.
Price per square metre for most expensive of this design - $7,700
But if you add $50,000 for lack of carpark, then price per square metre is $8,300.

Type C One bedroom plus "extended living space"
54 sqm internal, 64 sqm total
Potential river views.
Kitchen is a strip of cupboards in entry way.
No room for dining table inside -- plan shows dining table on balcony.
No bath - shower only.
Price range - $405,000 to $495,000.
Example: Level 7 apartment is $430,000
Price per square metre for most expensive of this design - $7,734

Type E Two bedroom
73 sqm internal, 84 sqm total
Potential river views.
Second bedroom not near second bathroom
Both bedrooms at front
Price range - $555,000 to $695,000.
Example: Level 10 - $640,000
Price per square metre for most expensive of this design - $8,273

Type F Two bedroom
84 sqm internal, 98 sqm total
Largest two bed apartment
End apartment.
Potential river views.
Excellent glass-fronted wall to ceiling living space -- should give this apartment a wow factor!
Bedrooms at side or back -- second bedroom looks into blank wall.
Price range - $605,000 to $805,000.
Examples: Level 10 - $690,000; Level 12 - $745,000
Price per square metre for most expensive of this design - $8,214

It would be interesting to track re-sales in the recent Devine Charlotte Towers, to see if the apartments were priced too high when sold off-the-plan.

According to REIQ, the medium Hamilton apartment price for December Qtr 2008 was $415,000, which is down 11.6% on the previous quarter. Buying an existing apartment may be better value, or even Portside. For example, a two bedroom apartment in Admiralty Two, with direct river views and absolute river front, can be purchased for less than $650,000 (106 sqm) and is less than $6,000 per sqm. A one bedroom in Quay West, where Ken Woodley lives, is about 74 sqm, includes a car park, and is about $440,000 (less than $6,000 per sqm).

Hamilton Harbour Floor Plans

Devine has released floor plans for Hamilton Harbour.

The apartments are small.
Example one bed sizes are:

• 41 sqm internal, 50 sqm in total
• 45 sqm internal, 53 sqm in total
• 54 sqm internal, 64 sqm in total (see plan above).

Example two bed two bath sizes are:

• 73 sqm internal, 84 sqm in total
• 74 sqm internal, 90 sqm in total
• 84 sqm internal, 98 sqm in total (see plan above).

All have fully ducted air conditioning. There appears to be 22 levels of apartments, with about 12 apartments per floor.

"The residential buildings Harbour One and Harbour Two are each placed to take best advantage of river views. While being 22 and 19 storeys respectively, the buildings make a deliberate effort to present architecturally appealing building facades to the nearby neighbourhood while providing occupants with the best available living environment within the apartments."

Hamilton Harbour Website

Devine has new content on its Hamilton Harbour website, www.hamiltonharbour.com.au

"1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments $295,000 to $1.59M

• two commercial towers commanding the Kingsford Smith gateway
• two residential towers providing city and river views for many apartments and huge al fresco balconies for all
• an urban village in between, where residents and office occupants will mingle among boutiques, bars and restaurants they call their own

Beyond their own boundary, Hamilton Harbourites have easy strolling access to the dining, shopping, cinemas and City Cat terminal which already make this riverside enclave one of Brisbane's most attractive new places to live and work.

At the upstream end of Northshore, Brisbane's grandest and most ambitious ever urban renewal initiative, Hamilton Harbour is a landmark development which can place you at the centre of the city's astounding future growth. As a resident, tenant or investor, Hamilton Harbour demands your serious attention."

Hamilton Harbour - 4 Buildings Proposed

New website for Hamilton Harbour residential building, called Harbour One. It is behind the Bretts Wharf development, on Kingsford Smith Drive.

"A 19-storey tower and 22-storey tower will house a total of 416 apartments, and the developers have already committed to selling a percentage of residences in the low-to-medium price range.

The budget apartments will be "space-efficient" while other one-bedroom offerings will come without a car space.

"This will enable these units to be offered for sale at a considerably lesser price to those who would otherwise be unable to afford housing in such a well-serviced location," the project plan details."

Brisbane Times

View from the air