Another Milton Development

Walker Corporation announced it had bought land in Brisbane's inner west to embark on a new a $100 million-plus development with shops and 243 apartments across two towers, 12- and 20-storeys high.

Walker Corp has bought for a new mixed-use project at Milton in Brisbane was sold by Mominvest C, a company owned by Sydney-based John Hayson. The 3240sq m property fronting Milton Railway Station on Railway Terrace is an amalgamation of eight housing lots, with development approval for 243 apartments and shops.

Walker Corp plans to build one- and two-bedroom apartments priced between $420,000 and $550,000 within the traditionally industrial and low-density residential area where the Lion Nathan Brewery is also located. "Our project will provide high-quality, yet affordable accommodation for young people, who want to live less than 2km from the CBD," Mr Walker said.

The purchase is diagonally opposite FKP's The Milton project (at one time called Union).  According to the AFR yesterday, The Milton is close to 50% pre-committed (whatever that means).  It will be interesting to see if the Walker buildings block the views from The Milton.

See The Australian and AFR

The Milton at Milton

FKP has opened its sales office for "The Milton", a new apartment building that FKP plans to build next to the railway line at Milton Station.

The building will feature 298 one and two bedroom apartments. There will be no three bedroom apartments. There is a pool. Shops are located on the ground level.

Compared to all recent developments for Brisbane apartments, the floor plans for the apartments in The Milton are the best that I have seen. The apartments have wide frontages, good light, storage space, and most have good sized kitchens (rather than galley kitchens). There are no internal bedrooms. The apartments are an ok size - the average size for a two bed is 92 sqm including balcony and 62 sqm for a one bed.

The downsides:

• FKP's recent developments in Brisbane have not been great. Vue at Milton was did not turn out to be great, and many of the apartments there are still selling below the original sales price. The Albion Mill project never started. I considered the SL8 development at West End to be a disappointment.
• The Milton is being built on a railway.
• The Milton is located close to the XXXX brewery, and so residents will be impacted by smell, fumes and fallout from the brewery.
• Despite the nice brochures from FKP, The Milton is located a fair distance from the river. It is not river front, and will only have distant river views. There is the strong possibility that other towers will be built between this development and the river. In my opinion, the artist's impressions being distributed by FKP are somewhat misleading.
• There is the risk that the apartments on each end will be built out if similar apartment buildings are constructed on the neighbouring land. The Milton is not on a corner block, and this is a risk.
• The building does not have central airconditioning. The hallways are unlikely to be airconditioned. Not all rooms in your apartment will have an airconditioning output head. So FKP selected the low quality option here.

The biggest downside to me is the price. FKP is advertising that the median (not average) price for 2 bedroom apartments is $778,049 and for one bedrooms is $430,497.

For example, the apartment listed above (N type) on about level 12 is listed for sale at $795,000 plus an extra $12,000 for the "upgrade" interior package. This is over $8,500 per sqm metre, for an average residential starter apartment -- we are not talking about a luxury building or prime location here.

A two bedroom M type on lower than level 10 will cost $785,000 plus a $10,000 upgrade package. A two bedroom K type on a similar low floor will cost $748,000 plus $10,000 upgrade package.

What is even more amazing is the printed information that FKP is giving out to potential investors. They have a sheet of paper showing investment returns for a 2 bed, 1 bath apartment listed at $650,000. The predicition is that this apartment will be worth $807,500 on completion of the project in 2013, and will be worth over $1M by 2016. The predicted rent is over $720 a week in 2013.

Take note! Investors who purchased a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment off-the-plan in Evolution (a better location, in the downtown area) over 5 years ago at over $600,000 are now having great trouble selling that same apartment for $500,000 today, and similar apartments in Felix are selling for about $450,000 today. So it is a bit rich to say that a two bed, 1 bath apartment at Milton is good value at $650,000 today, and I find it very hard to believe that it will be worth 0ver $800,000 in three years time.

Take care!!

Vue Apartments

The Vue Apartment complex on Coronation Drive has been impacted by its bad location and road construction activity. There is construction of the Hale Street link and GoBetween Bridge nearby, and the complex is located on the corner of a busy road and a highway. It was developed by FKP, who is now pushing a new development at Milton called The Milton. Example listings in Vue:

• Apt 1705, 2 bed with roof top terrace listed at $750,000 being sold by the original developer FKP
• Apt 3102, 2 bed, renting at $460, listed at $430,000 (sold for $350,000 in 2006)
• Apt 2303, 2 bed, 5th floor, listed at $470,000 (purchased off the plan for $440,000 in 2004)

Apt 2409 sold off-the-plan by FKP in 2006 for $535,000 and was resold in February 2009 for $445,000.

Apt 2001 sold off-the-plan for $445,000 and resold for $400,000 in October 2009.

Apt 2008 sold off-the-plan for more than $504,000 and resold in Sept 2009 for $479,000

The Milton

FKP has received development approval from the Council for its Milton Railway Station development. This development was once called Union, and is now called "The Milton".

The Milton will be a 31-storey, 303 residential apartment building on Railway Terrace. It will also have a number of retail lots.

Union at Milton

"Thank you for your email enquiry regarding our proposed project at Milton.

We are currently working thru the final stages of our Development approval, which we are hoping will be confirmed early December....

In broad terms we intend to develop a modern iconic 30 storey building with multi level car parking and a wide choice of unit types i.e. 1 bedroom, 1+1 bedroom and differing design 2 bedroom apartments. There will be attractive mix of retail at ground level, a very generous entry lobby and excellent resident facilities ie pool, gymnasium, owners lounge and more."

Brisbane Development Update

In April 2008, I listed apartments buildings that were planned for Brisbane.

Here is an update of that post. Times have changed!

1. Trilogy Hotel - 192 apartments - being sold off the plan, but project on indefinite hold
2. Trilogy Skyhome Apartments - 109 apartments - on indefinite hold
   
3. Westin Residences (Empire Square) - 104 apartments - project abandoned.
   
4. Waters Edge at West End - 220 apartments in the first 2 buildings to be released - earthworks have started
   
5. Union at Milton - 213 residential apartments and 127 hotel rooms - status unknown
   
6. French Quarter - about 70 apartments and 150 hotel rooms - project abandoned
   
7. Hamilton Harbour - about 250 apartments - stages one and two being sold off-the-plan; construction finance not yet obtained
   
8. Meriton Tower - 200 serviced apartments plus 200 residential apartments - now called Soleil, and all apartments -- no hotel or serviced apartment component.
   
9. The Mill at Albion - likely to be cancelled
   
10. Waterfront Newstead - 631 apartments - two buildings under construction
    

Current off-the-plan buildings being marketed and under construction

1. Vision (400 apartments) - cancelled
   
2. Iceworks at Paddington (47 apartments) - complete
   
3. Parklands at Sherwood (82 apartments for sale now; 211 apartments planned in total) stages one and two complete
   
4. Tennyson Reach (393 apartments) - two buildings complete, and a third building under construction
   
5. SL8 (112 apartments) - complete
   
6. Ciana Indooroopilly (132 apartments) - complete
   
7. Portside Hamilton - three buildings complete, one building in off-the-plan sales
   
8. Riverpoint West End (280 apartments) - under construction
   
9. The Macrossan (42 apartments) - under construction
   
10. SW1 (57 apartments) - complete
    
11. Fresh Toowong (92 apartments) - complete
    

FKP Slow to Start Construction

"FOUR years after Transit Oriented Developments were touted as key to housing thousands of people around transport hubs, building is yet to start on any.

Instead projects designed to create a self-contained living, working and leisure environment in Brisbane have been blocked by red tape, rising headworks charges, financing issues and business woes.

It's not that the concept has no appeal. FKP's The Mill project in the inner northern Brisbane suburb of Albion has had strong pre-sales. But in light of changing market conditions, FKP is still awaiting approval after reconfiguring some plans.

The company has also spent years developing plans for another TOD over the railway station at Milton, in the city's inner west, and has revised plans awaiting approval from the Brisbane City Council.

But without approvals in place yet there is no certainty as to when construction will start."

Courier Mail

Union at Milton

Union at Milton has updated its website -- FKP has cleared the site, and is waiting development approval.

Future Brisbane Apartment Developments

There is likely to be a shortage of apartments in Brisbane in the near future. (This statement assumes that that is not massive unemployment in Brisbane.) There are few developments under construction, and so very little new stock will come onto the market in the next three years. What new stock remains unsold is either overpriced or poor quality.

Downtown Apartments

• M on Mary - completed - mostly poor quality 1 bedroom apartments, mostly unsold. Developer has ceased sales campaign and is running this building as short term accommodation
• Evolution - completed - about 20 apartments unsold - small and overpriced
• Skyline - completed - about 20 apartments unsold - building surrounded by other buildings, and generally overpriced
• Aurora - completed
  
• Empire Square - cancelled
• Trilogy Tower - status uncertain - in presales, with planned completion in 2012 - both hotel rooms and expensive apartments
• Vision - status uncertain - in presales, with completion not before 2012
  
• Soleil Tower - soon to start presales - 403 apartments, with completion about 2011
• French Quarter - early days, no planning approval
  

Inner City

• Flow (West End) - completed - about 5 remain unsold, will negotiate on price to sell
  
• Koko (West End) - completed - about 5 remain unsold, will negotiate on price to sell
• Tempo (West End) - completed - about 5 remain unsold, will negotiate on price to sell
• IceWorks (Paddington) - almost complete - about 6 apartments remain unsold
  
• SL8 (West End) - under construction, with completion expected in April 2009, poor location
• Waters Edge (West End) - off-the-plan selling, overpriced and selling poorly, completion in 2010
• Ciana (Indooroopilly) - almost complete - about 25 out of 130 apartments remain unsold - good value
  
• Tennyson Reach - 2 buildings nearing completion, 1 building not far behind, 3 more buildings planned
• Newstead Waterfront - 2 buildings selling well off-the-plan
• The Mill at Albion - almost sold out, relatively expensive
• El Dorado Village - to be launched to the marketing in October 2008, completion likely in 2011
• Milton Union - received planning approval

Milton Union Station Development

"A 30-storey highrise with 210 units, hotel, and a 10 storey office tower over Milton railway station will be built within the next three years after receiving the greenlight from Brisbane City Council."
See Courier Mail
I wonder if the fumes and smoke output from the brewery will impact those living in the apartments?

The article also mentions the Mill at Albion:
"FKP is also building another transit oriented development at Albion, which was approved by the council in April. Mr Miller said so far 120 of the 140 units averaging about $650,000 each had been sold."

News About Union, Albion and Northbank

Ten News Video

Union Development - Milton Railway Station

From the FKP website:

http://www.unionmilton.com.au/

"Union is proposed to incorporate:

• 30-storey residential building comprising 213 – one, two and three bedroom apartments
• 127 room, 4.5 star hotel
• 10-storey office building comprising 13,500 sqm of net lettable floor space
• Prime podium and street frontage retail
• Multi-million dollar Milton Railway Station upgrade."

"Views to the river. Views to the city. View to the hills. Bring your worlds into Union.

Unrivalled 360 degree views of Brisbane and beyond will be the focal point of Union’s proposed 30-storey residential building. As a stunning and sleek landmark in Milton, Union will offer a location free from the clutter of neighbouring buildings.

Residential opportunities at Union are proposed to commence from Level 8 and will comprise an array of architecturally sophisticated options, including:

• proposed terrace apartments overlooking Railway Terrace
• proposed one bedroom apartments up to Level 22, and a variety of two and three bedroom apartments with a bird eye views of Brisbane up to Level 30.

For those seeking the pinnacle in residential apartment living – a limited number of two storey, three bedroom apartments are also proposed."

Brisbane Construction

As reported on SkyScraperLife (including projected completion date and name of builder):

Under Construction:
Centary Square [108 Wickham St] -- Feb-08 <<>>
Evolution - [18 Tank St] -- due Apr-08 <<>>
Green Square [503 St. Paul’s Tce] -- Jun-08 <<>>
Tribune [199 Grey St] -- Jun-08 <<>>
WBC Annex [199 George St] -- Jun-08 <<>>
Devine Office [333 Ann St] -- Sep-08 <<>>
Wesly Mission [110 Ann St] -- Sep-08 << ???????? >>
545 Queen St [545 Queen St] -- Nov-08 <<>>
Petrie Barracks [Given Tce] -- Nov-08 <<>>
Central Plaza 3 [80 Eagle St] -- Dec-08 <<>>
NAB Annex [308 Queen St] -- Dec-08 <<>>
53 Albert St [53 Albert St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
Brisbane Central [140 Elizabeth St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
Matisee tower [110 Mary St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
NorthBridge [31 Tank St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
AM60 [42 Albert St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
The Macrossan [475 Adelaide St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Suncorp Tower [179 Turbot St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Icon Place [270 Adelaide St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Sky Campus [400 George St] -- Dec-09 <<>>
NorthBank Plaza [275 George] -- Dec-09 <<>>
Vision [131 Mary St] -- Jun 2012 <<>>

Pending Start: (real Projects with construction contract, due to start soon)
Trilogy [480 Queen] -- <<>>
111 Eagle St [111 Eagle St] -- <<>>
Union [Milton Station 150 Milton Rd] -- <<>>
Westminster Hall [145 Ann St] -- <<>>
Southpoint [Collins Place] -- <<>>
Meriton [495 Adelaide St] -- <<>>
550 Queen St [550 Queen St] -- <<>>

Not all of these are apartments. Will these block views of existing apartments?