South side apartment developments

I received an email from an agent selling apartments off-the-plan, listing four current projects.  Here are the details that were sent to me.

Fish Lane Apartments

-          48 Apartments at corner of Melbourne and Cordelia Street, South Brisbane;

-          Brisbane State High School catchment area

-          Currently under construction (completion to 5^th floor) and expected settlement on December 2013.

-          Bosch appliance (gas cooktop, microwave, oven, dishwasher) and dryer inclusive

-          One bedroom apartments with car – sold out

-          Two bedrooms two bath one car apartments North East city view facing Level 5 from $595,000

Edge Apartments 

-          48 Apartments at Manning Street, South Brisbane

-          Brisbane State High School catchment area

-          Currently complete demolishment and expected settlement late 2014

-          Bosch appliance (gas cooktop, microwave, oven, dishwasher) and dryer inclusive

-          One bedroom apartment with car – sold out

-          Two bedroom two bath one car apartment South-West facing Level 1 and 2 from $555,000

-          Current promotion with $25,000 cash back at settlement or $10,000 cash back and full furniture pack

Arena Apartments 

-          191 Apartments at Edmonstone Street, South Brisbane

-          Brisbane State High School catchment area

-          Currently commence construction, expected settlement Dec 2014 to Feb 2015

-          Bosch appliance (gas cooktop, oven, dishwasher) and dryer inclusive

-          One bedroom apartment with car - $390,000 Only two left

-          Two bedroom one bath one car - $520,000 at Level 5

-          Two bedroom two bath two cars with 86m2 internal and 45m2 court yard - $645,000 at Podium Level

-          Three bedroom full upgrade Skyhomes with three cars - $1.45m, $1.7m and $1.75m three available

Glass Factory

-          47 Apartments at Vulture Street, West End

-          Brisbane State High School catchment area

-          VIP Launching on 7^th September

-          One bedroom with car from $370,000

-          Two bedroom two bathroom with car from $555,000

-          Three bedroom two bath two car with city view at high levels from $825,000 

Arena South Brisbane

Arena at South Brisbane is currently being marketed off-the-plan.  It is located at 9 Edmondstone Street.  The two tower building has an interesting design.  Some pricing is being advertised:

• Apt 1012, 2 bed, 2 bath, level 2, 86 sqm internal, 27 sqm balcony -- $555,000 (which is $4,911 a sqm).
• Apt 1058, 2 bed, 1 bath, level 5, 77 sqm - $520,000

There is a nice video from the developer, but it mostly shows South Bank, not South Brisbane.  There is a difference in location, and these apartments are located at South Brisbane, not South Bank.

Arena South Brisbane

A new development is being proposed for Edmondstone Street in South Brisbane, called Arena.  It has a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, and seems to be more up-market than a number of the other apartment complexes planned for South Brisbane.  The development appears to consist of 2 towers, each 12 floors high.

Brisbane Rents

Here is the median Brisbane rent for 2 bedroom apartments, as sourced from the RTA based upon information provided to the RTA when rental bonds are lodged or updated.  This does not distinguish between furnished and unfurnished apartments, and does not include lease renewals where the bond amount does not change.  This is for the September 2012 quarter.

Post Code 4000 (Brisbane City): $585 per week
Post Code 4005 (New Farm): $530 per week
Post Code 4007 (Hamilton): $420 per week
Post Code 4101 (South Bank/ South Brisbane): $510 per week
Post Code 4066 (Toowong): $395 per week
Post Code 4067 (St Lucia): $420 per week
Post Code 4068 (Indooroopilly/Taringa): $385 per week

There is a lot of good rental information on the RTA website at: Median Rents Quick Finder

Do not use WhatRentMyHome.  This "service" is operated by a real estate agency, and the information it provides is inaccurate and out-of-date, and is misleading.

Aria in South Brisbane

Aria has been in the news recently.  Extracts from two stories below.  I think that South Brisbane is a good location, but a number of Aria's apartment buildings are located in non-prime and C-tier locations within South Brisbane.

"THERE are pockets of prosperity to be found in southeast Queensland's property sector despite the recent lacklustre performance of the market. Nestled between two flanks of the winding Brisbane River, medium-rise residential and commercial properties are popping up among the easy-living environs of Southbank, the city's convention centre hub, the Gallery of Modern Art and Griffith University. South Brisbane, just across the Victoria Bridge from Brisbane's central business district, is benefiting from local and state government changes to push it out of its light industrial past and into a trendy and bustling future.

 Aria Property Group has made the area a focal point of its activities, with sales of their medium-rise residential towers in the inner-city area almost completely sold out before the foundations are sunk. Aria Property head of development Chris Mitchell says apartment sales at the company's 65-apartment project, Station 16, have just settled, while construction was under way on two of the company's other residential developments.

"South Brisbane is the focus of the business at the moment because of its location and rental premium over alternative inner-city locations," Mitchell says.  "We did quite an extensive amount of research to make sure what we were trying to deliver would fit the market in terms of quality and price points.  Certainly, the location was a big selling factor."

Aria Property Group has developed its inner-city niche in South Brisbane since arriving on the Queensland property scene almost a decade ago.  The company has a $250 million investment portfolio that includes 63 commercial, retail and industrial sites and tenancies across southeast Queensland. Its future apartment pipeline could be up to 2500 apartments.

Formed in 2003 by developer Tim Forrester - the son of FKP co-founder and long-serving chief executive Rod Forrester - Aria has concentrated on delivering high-end investment product in the region."

Full story in The Australian

See also Brisbane Times:

"The CMC asked Brisbane City Council in June to investigate its role in letting Aria buy the eight square metres of footpath for the Edmonstone Street development.

A Brisbane City Council spokesman said yesterday the council's investigations were completed last month and no evidence of official misconduct by council officers or staff with the former state Department of Resource Management had been found.

Aria's managing director Tim Forrester said the developer had no "short term" plans to go ahead with the Edmonstone Street tower. "We're focused on these more boutique developments," he said. Mr Forrester would not be drawn on the developer's further plans for South Brisbane, but said there was a "chronic" under supply of housing in the suburb "There's such a demand for apartments and as a result we're seeing rents remain incredibly strong," he said. "There's an increasing number of office workers in South Brisbane and that's really pushing up demand on the southern side of the river."

Mr Forrester added young professionals were also showing a preference for boutique apartment buildings on the southern side of the river, over soaring towers in the CBD. He said he was hopeful the council would welcome the proposal for Grey Street, as it came in under the area's 20-storey height limit.   Just two two-bedroom apartments remain for sale in the Artisan development, which is due to be completed in June next year. The remaining apartments are priced at $594,000 and $629,000. The complex features 66 apartments over 10 levels with 37 one-bedroom and 29 two-bedroom residences."

The Plaza South Brisbane

David Devine’s Metro Property Development group has increased its commitment to the inner-Brisbane apartment market, with approval granted for an $80 million project in South Brisbane.  The 12-level development, called The Plaza, has been designed by architects Deicke Richards and is due to be built at the corner of Russell and Manning streets on a 2,270-square-metre site and will feature 168 apartments.

Off-the-plan marketing of the project will begin later this month.  It will offer a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, ranging in price from $330,000 to $575,000. The project will take the value of Metro’s approved apartment developments in Brisbane to more than $400 million.

Metro currently has 1,337 apartments under construction or approved for development in inner Brisbane and a further 950 apartments in the pipeline.

See Property Observer and Prior Post

Comment emailed to me by a reader, after this post was published:

"I came across your blog while searching for a project called The Plaza by developer Metro as you would probably know about. I was basically doing more research on the project as I may be interested in investing in it. Upon researching I found out that Aria would build one called the Vines directly in front of The Plaza which probably would have The Plaza looking to another building rather then the great city views it promises. Bascially from reading through your blog, you have given your opinion on Vines being too expensive...i agree btw."

South Brisbane Apartments

There are two large apartment buildings currently in presales in South Brisbane.  One is Metro's The Plaza development.  The other is Pradella's Canvas.

The Plaza is 12 levels of one and two bedroom apartments, priced up to $575,000.  It is on the corner of Russell and Manning Streets.

Canvas is located on Boundary Street, and has 141 one and two bedroom apartments.  The one bedrooms start at $346,000 and the two bedrooms start at $538,000.  The one bedrooms shown on the website are small -- 44 sqm internal plus a 10 sqm balcony.  This is about the size of a hotel suite.  The two bedrooms range in size (internally) from 76 to 82 sqm.  They are lower quality apartments, with the air conditioning compressor on the balcony for example.

To get a good idea of how small these apartments will be, have a look at a prior Pradella project in South Brisbane -- Allegro.  Some details about Allegro are here, and video here.  Go and have a look before you buy off the plan, so you can see what a small apartment is like.  Apt 96 is for sale for $410,000, and it has two bedrooms.  Apt 72 is two bedrooms with city views, listed at $420,000.

Or you can buy a top quality 2 bedroom apartment today in Saville South Bank, for $500,000 to $540,000.  Saville is in a better location than The Plaza and Canvas, and is a much higher quality build than Allegro.  Apt 1115 is a two bedroom listed for sale for $529,000, and it is 85 sqm internal with a 10 sqm balcony.  I could be wrong, but this seems to me to be a much better buy than a smaller, lower quality apartment in Canvas which is more expensive, and has the added significant risk factor of buying off-the-plan.

South Brisbane apartment

Proposed apartment building by Aria at 77 Grey Street in South Brisbane.  Proposed to be 18 stories.
36 two bedroom apartments & 84 one bedroom apartments (for a total of 120 apartments), but only 106 car parks including visitor car parking.
Many of the apartments will have a nice view of the wall of the museum, or the very busy Grey St/Melbourne St intersection and busway.

South Bank Census Data

One area of Brisbane where there are many apartments is the South Bank area of South Brisbane.  However, there is little data available about this area because it is leasehold land.  The 2011 Census has some interesting data.  The apartments in this area include Arbour on Grey, Saville Southbank (also known as Mantra Southbank) and Urbanest student accommodation.

• population - 804 people
• median age - 22
• Most people are in the 20 to 24 age group (31% of the population)
• 91 families
• 17% married
• 66% have University qualifications (compared with 13.5% for Qld or 14.35 for Australia as a whole).
• 231 dwellings in total (of which, 92% are apartments)
• Average of 2.1 people per household
• 66% of dwellings had 2 bedrooms
• Median weekly household income - $1,687
• 70% of dwellings are rented
• Median rent - $500 per week
• 0.9 cars per dwelling
• Ancestry: "The most common ancestries were English 17.2%, Chinese 16.1%, Australian 11.9%, Irish 5.0% and Scottish 4.7%."
• Country of birth: "In 3111003 (Statistical Area Level 1), 31.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 6.0%, Hong Kong (SAR of China) 4.9%, Singapore 4.4%, England 4.2% and Korea, Republic of (South) 4.0%."
• 68% had both parents born outside of Australia.

Vine on Russell Prices

Vine on Russell was recently released by Aria Property Group.  It is located in South Brisbane, opposite Musgrave Park.  Construction to start in June and to be completed in mid 2013.

As at the end of the first week in March, after about 3 weeks of sales activity, 50 of the 56 apartments were reported as being sold by the developer.  This is a fantastic result, or the developer is not being truthful, take your pick.

Some pricing for the apartments that remain for sale:

• Apt 702, a studio apartment, 55 sqm internal, $446,000
• Apt 303, a two bedroom apartment on the corner of the building, overlooking Cordelia St (which is a major road, and noisy), 73 sqm internal, $609,000
• Apt 705, two bedroom on Cordelia St, 75 sqm internal, $614,000

Looking at current sales of quality apartments in the inner city apartments, and what is currently listed for sale, these prices seem to me to be outrageously high for small apartments with few facilities that are located on a major road.  Obviously, 50 purchasers don't think so.

Vine on Russell, at South Brisbane

Another apartment building from Aria in South Brisbane:  Vine on Russell, which is on the corner of Russell Street and Cordelia Street (a busy main road), overlooking Musgrave Park.

An 8 storey building, with at total of 56 apartments, either 1 or 2 bedroom apartments.  No pool.

South Bank to Expand?

The Queensland State government plans to expand South Bank upriver, and into South Brisbane & West End.  This will involve the purchase of the Parmalat milk premises.  See story here.

"The South Bank Corporation would oversee the expansion of the parklands precinct from 42ha to 69ha. It would include a 50m pool and aquatic play area, green space, picnic and barbecue areas, markets and a retail and dining precinct.  There would also be new commercial and residential buildings to offset the cost of public infrastructure.  Ms Bligh said one of the features of South Bank 2 would be a new cultural institution, with a national indigenous museum favoured by authorities.  She said the plan envisaged Hope St and Montague Rd becoming "vibrant destinations" similar to James St in Fortitude Valley and Little Stanley St in South Brisbane."

It looks like a great plan.  But if the government changes at the next election, this is unlikely to go ahead because Campbell Newman said that he wants to abolish South Bank Corporation.

Pradella's New Project - Canvas

Pradella is advertising a new project in South Brisbane, called Canvas.  It is a high-rise building, having one and two bedroom apartments.  The development is located at 41 Boundary Street, and will have 141 apartments over 11 levels.

Grey Street, South Bank

Part of Grey Street at South Bank (South Brisbane) is getting a major and needed facelift.

• The new ABC headquarters are almost complete.
• The new entrance and shops at the Convention Centre are complete and have opened.
• The Queensland Conservatorium has done minor improvements to the streets cape -- more work is needed here.
• The Rydges Hotel is improving its street front.
• The South Brisbane train station landscaping and heritage features are being improved.

All of these improvements add value to the apartments on Grey Street (such as Saville and Arbour).

South Brisbane and Indooroopilly

A recent report by Urbis lists South Brisbane as being "trendy" and Indooroopilly as a "prime unit location".  Bowen Hills also gets a mention as an area undergoing redevelopment.
See Article

Apartment Rentals In Inner Brisbane

Top 10 most expensive inner-Brisbane suburbs for unit rentals: RP Data

Suncorp Selects Southpoint as New HQ?

There are rumours going around that Suncorp has select Southpoint at South Bank as its new headquarters.  Construction has not even started, so it will be a long way off.  (The other option Suncorp was looking at was 480 Queen St, the site of the proposed but abandoned Trilogy Tower.)  I suspect that this will add to the value of apartments in South Bank and some in South Brisbane.

Update:  Tuesday 29 November:  Rumour confirmed as correct.

New Pradella Development in South Brisbane

Pradella is planning a new off the plan apartment building in South Brisbane.  It is somewhat near the Art Gallery, and according to Pradella, will have "spectacular views at a very attractive price point".  The website does not give much detail.  Completion is forecast for 2014.

Metro Property

Metro Property, owned by Pearls from India, David Devine and Ken Woodley (who lives in a Mirvac apartment), will soon launch The Plaza at South Brisbane.  It is a ten story building located on Manning Street, with 165 small apartments.

Metro have sold their 37 Mayne Road development in Bowen Hills.  The rumour is that it was sold to Arden Property Group.

In other news, there is a rumour that Devine/Leighton (no longer associated with David Devine) has sold its Camelot site on the corner of Albert Street and Margaret Street.

Fish Lane Apartments

Launching this month is a new apartment development in South Brisbane, Fish Lane Apartments.

Located on Melbourne Street, this development will have 48 apartments.  One bedroom apartments are priced from $360,000.  Two bedroom apartments are priced from $560,000.  There will be only 5 apartments per floor.  The building is 9 stories high.