Festival Towers lawsuit

Many owners of apartments in Festival Towers in Brisbane, and the body corporate, are suing Devine Limited and Brookfield Multiplex Constructions for a large amount of damages concerning the construction (and alleged construction defects) in Festival Towers.  Details of the lawsuit can be found here on the Supreme Court website.  I have been told that there have been special body corporate levies to partially fund the lawsuit.

Any prospective purchaser should have their lawyers study the lawsuit paperwork, including the schedule of defects, in detail.

At the time of development and construction of Festival Towers, Devine Limited was run by David Devine, with Ken Woodley as the senior person on the sales side.  Devine and Woodley are now running Metro Property Group, which is a marvellous sales machine.

Festival Towers, managed by Oaks, doesn't have the greatest feeling in my view.  Partly short term accommodation and partly foreign students (packed into small apartments, and sleeping in hallways and living rooms), and a popular place for travelling hookers, Festival Towers has always disappointed me.

In my opinion, purchasing apartments off-the-plan has risks, because you don't know the level of quality that will actually be delivered.  The sales contract is most often in the developer's favour.  In a number of circumstances, I have seen glossy brochures inferring high quality, but the product that is delivered is low quality.  For this reason, I always take that view that off-the-plan pricing should be less than current market pricing to take into account this risk.  Unfortunately, most developers are selling apartments off-the-plan at prices that are higher than you could buy an existing similar apartment -- the only difference being age.

An agent I spoke to recently who was selling off-the-plan informed me that his competition was not other new developments, but resale apartments in recently finished buildings by the same developer.  He said the price of the resale apartments was about 15% less than his almost identical new, under construction apartments.  And buying an existing apartment is way less risky than purchasing off-the-plan.

Devine Hamilton Harbour Settlements

Devine recently issued a stock market release saying:

"Market conditions have continued to deteriorate across most Australian property markets which have had a significant impact on the company bringing new projects to the market."

In Brisbane, Devine has a joint venture with Leightons on a multi-building apartment complex called Hamilton Harbour, where most off-the-plan sales for buildings one and two have reached settlement.

According to the AFR this week, as at late December, Devine had settled 80% of the off-the-plan sales.  Why have 20% not settled?  All may be revealed when Devine's financial results are released shortly.  If 20% of the sales have fallen over, this may impact nearby developments by Brookfield Multiplex, Mirvac and Citimark.

Devine has a rental website for the project, advertising two bedroom apartments for rent from $545 per week.  But some two bedroom apartments are listed on RealEstate.com.au for $795 a week, which seems outrageously high for a 85 sqm apartment facing West.

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?

Mirvac's Foreshore Hamilton

Mirvac has Foreshore Hamilton in pre-release at present. Mirvac sales agents are calling all potential buyers to make sales. Lower floor apartments in the first building, called Foreshore One, are being marketed off-the-plan. The building is about 23 floors, and only the top few floors will have a view. The actual outlook and location, although in the redevelopment area of Hamilton, is not great. The development will be located behind the Portside buildings, and next to a proposed Citimark building, Rivana. So really crowded. (Foreshore One will take away the rear views from the Promenade building being built by Multiplex.)

Many of the apartments are very small. One bedrooms are about 52 sqm to 55 sqm in total, no balcony, priced from $345,000. The two bedrooms range in size from 72 sqm to 105 sqm in total -- the smaller 2 bedrooms do not have a balcony. The larger 2 bedroom is priced from mid $600,000 to low $800,000. Not cheap. Some two bedrooms are priced from $495,000, but these are small.

Mirvac will probably build a quality product (better quality than Promenade and Rivana I suspect) but due to the apartment size, poor location and cost, I am not lining up to buy. Also, there are a huge number of apartments being being built in this area, including Hamilton Harbour by Devine next door, and so there will always be plenty of competition if you ever have to sell or find a tenant.

From a Mirvac email:

This is what will set 'Foreshore - Hamilton' apart in this exciting new urban development.  We will bring to the market 1 and 2 bedroom apartments:  1 bedroom apartments are priced between $345,000 and $525,000 - size range from 50sqm to  58.5sqm  2 bedroom apartments are priced between $495,000 and $975,000 - size range from 73sqm to 104sqm  Completion date will be the later end of 2013.

Developments at Portside

The photo shows development sites by Devine, Citimark, Mirvac and Brookfield Multiplex. (Double click on photo for larger view.) An endless supply of apartments, which means values are unlikely to rise significantly.

Portside Promenade

Multiplex still has a number of apartments to sell off-the-plan at Portside Promenade, located near Hamilton. Construction has not yet started on this building, which is the third apartment building in the development. See prior posts.

The development is behind other buildings, and the fourth building in the development will block some of the river views from Promenade. The better views are to the west, but the apartments do not have central air conditioning - -there is a split system aircon, with a compressor on the balcony, for the living room only. Not a good call Multiplex!

Example pricing:

• level 4, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 92sqm internal, 112 sqm total - $695,000
• level 5, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern view, 90 sqm internal, 114 sqm total - $650,000
• level 8, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 91sqm internal, 120 sqm total - $819,000
• level 9, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 93 sqm internal, 111 sqm total - $870,000
• level 10, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern side, 93sqm internal, 112 sqm total - $850,000
• level 10, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern side, 93sqm internal, 115 sqm total - $710,000
• level 15, 1 bed, 1 bath, northern side, 55 sqm internal, 72sqm total - $515,000
• level 15, 3 bed, 2 bath, river side and river views, 118 sqm internal, 150sqm total - $1,275,000
  

New Website for Portside

Multiplex is still selling Portside Building 3.

Apartments for Sale
New website

1 bed plus study, level 12, 83sqm = $600,000
2 bed, 2 baths, level 15, 115 sqm = $1,120,000

Promenade Building at Multiplex's Portside

Multiplex have started to sell the fourth building in the Portside development at Hamilton Shipping Terminal. This building is named Promenade. Here is a video.

Promenade is being marketed as waterfront, but the building is not waterfront. It is behind other buildings. (In addition, the firth building, Hamilton Waterfront Residences which is the same height, will be built in front of Promenade. HWR will have "absolute waterfront" apartments with an average price of $1.6M.)

Promenade has apartments from level 4 to level 15. There are a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bed apartments. There are two levels of quality -- the lower levels are not as good quality as the higher levels. For example, the lower levels are not fully airconditoned - there is a wall mounted unit in the living room only. The cupboards are laminate. On the lower levels, the quality of finishes are lower, and in my opinion by today's standards, quite poor.

There are 144 apartments, and according to documents dated 19 September 2008, 45 apartments have sold. Most of the apartments that sold are on levels 6 and 7 (which are the 3rd and 4th levels of apartments). Only 8 apartments have been sold on the top six levels. The most expensive is $1,650,000. The cheapest is a 1 bed with no car for $385,000.

Here are some sample prices (noting that the first level of apartments is level 4):

Level 5, Apartment P014, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 90 sqm internal, 24 sqm balcony, 114 sqm total, plaza views = $669,000

Level 8, Apartment P033, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 95 sqm internal, 29 sqm balcony, 124 sqm total, river views = $719,000

Level 12, Apartment P141 (illustrated above), 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 92 sqm internal, 18 sqm balcony, 110 sqm total, river views = $960,000

Level 12, Apartment P142, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 93 sqm internal, 17 sqm balcony, 110 sqm total, Hamilton views = $790,000

Level 14, Apartment P068, 2 bed plus study, 2 bath, 1 car, 103 sqm internal, 26 sqm balcony, 129 sqm total, north view = $990,000

The rentals estimates given out at the display say that the rentals estimated for Promenades for two bedroom apartments is $520 to $600 per week, or up to $675 per week if there is a study. This is not a great return for the prices listed above.

Some other figures in the Multiplex brochure:

Capital growth for units in Hamilton in 07/08 was negative 5.9% (for Brisbane City it was 13.5%).
Medium sales price for units in Hamilton in August 07 was $645,000, in March 08 it had dropped to $438,000. In the corresponding period, Brisbane City medium sales price for units had risen by $30,000.

What concerns me about this building is that it is not absolute waterfront, more than half the apartments do not have river views, the quality of finishes on the lower floors are poor (thus attracting cheaper rents and pulling down building values), and the building will eventually be surrounded by other buildings on all sides. Those apartments with river views have obstruction and roof views of other buildings. The price per sqm is high, for example $8727 for a 2 bed on a higher floor. As far as I can tell, this building does not have a pool or gym.