New Apartments

RealEstate.com.au has a section that lists new apartments being sold off the plan.  Here it is for The Valley in Brisbane.  Useful if you want a new, overpriced apartment.

Mosaic Apartment Complex to Become Grand Chifley Hotel

The Mosaic Apartment complex in the Valley will include a Grand Chifley Hotel.  I hope that the building is constructed to comply with all the proper fire regulations for a hotel.
Story here.

Mosaic The Valley Adds Hotel

The Mosaic apartment development has added a 41 room hotel component. That is a small hotel. The hotel will be branded as a Grand Chifley hotel, operated by Constellation Hotels (that also appears to have purchased the management rights for the apartment building.) The hotel opening date is expected to be mid-2013. I am not sure if I would be happy with this if I had purchased an off-the-plan apartment in Mosaic prior to this announcement.

Admiralty Two and Mosaic management rights for sale

Interestingly, the onsite letting pool consists of 79 out of 191 apartments, or 41% of apartments in the building. This suggests a very high level of owner occupiers in this building, which increases the value of these apartments.

Also for sale in an unrelated transaction are the management rights for Mosaic in the Valley, currently in off-the-plan sales stage. There are 212 apartments in this building, and it is expected that 180 will be in the onsite rental pool, which is 85% of apartments. Buyers beware!

Mosaic The Valley

Leightons has released a new representative image for the Mosaic The Valley apartment project on Ann Street. It is much blander with less greenery than previously visioned. The building appears to be closer to road, as the footpaths are narrower. The new image is above. The old image is below, and an older view is located here.

Mosaic is being developed by Leighton, which owns about half of Devine and is a constructing Hamilton Harbour with Devine.

Mosaic was launched in October 2009. It has 212 apartments, most of which are relatively small. Advertised today as 1 bedrooms starting at $365,000 and two bedroom starting at $540,000. No pool.

New Apartment Projects In Brisbane

This is my list of actual and pending apartment projects in inner city Brisbane.

1. Macrossan Apartments, located behind Skyline and the Admiralty buildings. Not river front. 37 levels. Full floor apartments on higher levels -- 3 bedrooms plus study, about 250 sqm internal, with small balcony. High level of finishes. Expensive. See typical floor plan. The main bedroom looks right into Skyline -- not much privacy here. The apartment on level 26 will be auctioned (by the developer it seems) on 3 March 2011. The building is complete, but it seems that less than half the apartments have sold.

2A. Soleil, by Meriton. Next door to Macrossan, and also behind Skyline, is Soleil. Currently under construction. Over 400 apartments; 74 floors. Currently at about level 55. The developer will keep the management rights; and will keep ownership of a large number of apartments on higher floors. This, in my opinion, creates many issues for owners, so take care. Will be settled in stages, with lower floors settling first. This is a B grade development in my view.

Photos of Soleil under construction: Photo of Soleil, Macrossan and Skyline; photo of the 3 Admiralty buildings, River Place, Skyline, with Macrossan to the side and Soliel growing from behind above Skyline.

2B. Infinity, by Meriton. Located in the Roma Street area, behind but to tower over Evolution. 77 floors of apartments, so this will be a massive height for Brisbane, but the actual floor plate is not that large. Currently in off the plan sales - see brochure. The hole for the carpark has been dug, but the building itself is not yet under construction. With 2 bedroom apartments starting at $590,000, this looks to be expensive. Again, the developer will keep the management rights and a number of apartments in the building, so take care.

3. Sunland's "Carrington" development on corner of Alice Street and Albert Street. This development recently received Council approval. 47 floors of high end apartments. Will cast shadow over Botanical Gardens, which is not good for the public. If you read all the controversy about Q1 on the Gold Coast, I hope that Sunland does a better job on its first Brisbane apartment building. The AFR reports that construction will start when 50% of the 257 apartments have been pre-sold.

4. Devine's proposed development, on the corner of Margaret Street and Albert Street, at 30 Albert Street. This is right behind the Sunland development mentioned above. A development application was lodged on Christmas Eve, 2010, so this will be some way off. 37 floors, 420 apartments, 1 and 2 bed apartments only. Looks like another Charlotte Towers.

5. The Midtown, on Charlotte Street, opposite Charlotte Towers. Currently in pre-sales; demolition has started onsite. One and two bedroom apartments. 29 floors of apartments.

6. The Chelsea and Madison on Mayne, by Metro Property Developments. These apartment buildings are both in Bowen Hills, and contain 286 and 242 apartments. Metro is associated with David Devine and Ken Woodley, both ex-Devine. Their most recent development was Charlotte Towers, where (as reported elsewhere in this blog) capital growth has been on average about 1% and many purchasers off the plan have lost money. So if they follow the same approach, the developers will profit, but not the initial purchasers. It is interesting to read this. These apartments do not have development approval. (Metro is also planning on Brooklyn on Brookes, in the Valley. (Also, Richmond at Bowen Hills by another developer.)

7. Mosaic in the Valley, still waiting for development approval. 20 floors, about 250 apartments. Currently being sold off-the-plan.

8. McLachlan & Ann in the Valley. 234 apartments, currently being sold off the plan.

9. Kevlin Grove Urban Village: A bunch of apartment buildings under construction, including 3 buildings by Pradella (branded as Urban Edge); and Edenview; and Binary Apartments.

10. SouthPoint at SouthBank. 20 floors.

11. Newstead River Park - about 15 apartment buildings planned, with Mirvac completing "Pier" shortly, and "Park" in presales. FKP plans to build The Gasworks.

12. Northshore Hamilton (many developers, with a large number of apartments planned), Hamilton Reach (in presales) and Hamilton Harbour (three apartment buildings by Devine, currently under construction) and Portside by Multiplex (one building under construction, at least one more planned); and Rivana (by Citimark).

13. Rive at Albion/Breakfast Creek (under construction, but flooded). Two towers of apartments.

14. Waters Edge at West End. Developed by Pradella. (stage one complete; stage two under construction). Basement and pool area flooded.

15. FKP's The Milton at Milton. Was in off the plan sales. Display flooded.

16. The Capitol Apartments, South Brisbane. Currently in off-the-plan sales.

17. Yungaba Apartments, Kangaroo Point. Currently in construction, but delayed due to floods.

18. Montague West End - site flooded, and website not active.

19. The Apple, in the CBD. Small building on 1 bedroom apartments.

20. Belise, St Paul's Terrace, in the Valley. In presales, off the plan.

Will Mosaic Go Ahead?

ONE of Australia's biggest developers has continued to sell units in a proposed $150 million Brisbane tower even though city planners have rejected the project.

Since marketing started a year ago, Leighton Properties has sold just over half of the 212 apartments in its planned Mosaic development at the corner of Ann and East streets in Fortitude Valley.

More than $4 million in deposits has been paid by 107 buyers - many of whom were told the 18-level residential and retail complex would be completed by late 2012.

But Brisbane City Council threw out the development application because of height concerns, forcing Leighton to file an appeal with Queensland's Planning and Environment Court in August.

Leighton state manager Andrew Borger said he met with council planners this week and the two sides were ''narrowing down the issues''.

If no deal is struck, a five-day court hearing has been set down for March next year.

Mosaic unit buyer Wagner Higgins said she recently learned about the question mark hanging over what could be one of the Valley's biggest developments.

''It does concern me because I would really like to live at that address,'' Ms Higgins said. ''But I don't think my money is at risk. The worst-case scenario is I get my money back.''

Ms Higgins, who paid a 10 per cent deposit, said Leighton representatives had been ''very forthcoming'' about the lack of approval and told her they were ''very confident'' it would proceed.

Yet she fears that her penthouse may disappear if height issues force a redesign of the project.

Council records reveal that planners also raised concerns with Leighton about the building's engineering, architecture and landscaping design.

Despite these hurdles, a Mosaic salesman last week claimed that approval was ''imminent'' and construction work would kick off in the first quarter of next year. A crane is already on site working on a neighbouring property.

In its appeal, Leighton said the Mosaic knockback had been ''overtaken by events'' since projects of ''greater building size, bulk and height'' had secured approvals in the Valley.

Among these were a council depot on St Paul's Terrace and a 20-level residential tower at Ann and McLachlan streets, the company said. But a council spokesperson said it was up to buyers to inform themselves before acquiring a property.

''Council strongly recommends people who are interested in buying units off the plan to satisfy themselves that the development has received all relevant development approvals prior to finalising their purchase,'' the spokesperson said.

Source: Courier Mail

Mosaic The Valley

When I look earlier this week, Mosaic The Valley had not yet received Development Approval from the Council. Also, from what the agents are saying, they do not yet have enough pre-sales required to lock in finance to start building. It will be interesting to see if and when they start building Mosaic.

One or Three Bedrooms?

I have always wondered whether developers know what they are doing. Take this for example.

The El Dorado Village Indooroopilly apartment development seemed to have its advertising targeted at suburban empty nesters. The proposed development included twenty end apartments that were three bedroom apartments, 105sqm internal (not large) and 35 sqm balcony. The lower floor 3 bedroom apartments were originally priced from $785,000 to about $825,000 when first released , but when re-launched recently, were priced in the low $900,000 range. There must not have been much interest, because the developer has reconfigured 10 of these apartments into 20 one bedroom and studio apartments. The new apartments are either 53sqm or 55 sqm internal, with either a 13sqm or 30sqm balcony. Priced from $400,000 to $465,000. So this development has lost ten 3 bed apartments and added twenty 1 bed apartments. Over a year ago, I was told by the developer's agent that the developer had finance and would start construction soon. That doesn't sound like it was right.

On the other hand, the developer for Mosaic in the Valley has combined one bedroom apartments to create larger two bedroom and three bedroom apartments. The developer has taken a couple of one bedrooms on the north side of the building and combined them into a two bedroom plus media room (94sqm plus 10 sqm balcony). The developer has also combined three one bedroom apartments on the south side of the building into a three bedroom apartment (134 sqm plus 17 sqm balcony).

In relation to the 2 bed plus media room, they have 2 car parks and the prices are:

Level 13 $799k

Level 14 $820k

Level 15 $840k

Level 16 $860k

So it seems that El Dorado is creating smaller apartments and Mosaic is creating larger apartments.

Mosaic in the Valley

Mosaic The Valley is now being sold off-the-plan, with a large advertising campaign. It is located on Ann Street (the major road from the airport to the city), at Church Street. If there are enough off-the-plan sales, so that construction can start, the developer hopes to complete in mid-2012.

There are 16 apartments per floor, mostly small 1 bed apartments. The building is about 15 stories high. There are over 200 apartments. The building does not have a pool. Most apartments do not have a balcony.

The apartments are small. For example, there is a studio apartment which is 50sqm. The bedroom is located internally, with sliding doors that can open. A similar sign is 54sqm. The 54sqm studio apartment, with a car park, on a mid-level is about $500,000 (or $435,000 without a car).

The largest style apartment is a 2 bed, 2 bath, for example, 79sqm, plus a 7 sqm balcony. The two bedroom apartments are located at each of the four corners of the floorplate -- so two are on Ann Street, and the other two face West. Not ideal in either case.

The two bedroom apartments range from $505,000 to $700,000.

The developer is Leighton Properties.