Showing posts with label waterfront. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waterfront. Show all posts

Friday, March 21, 2014

UniSon by Mirvac at Newstead

Mirvac has announced another apartment building in Newstead, called UniSon.  This will be located on the edge of the "Waterfront" development site.  It appears that there are a number of buildings to come on this site, so you will have plenty of time to select an apartment now or for many years in the future.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Next Stage of Waterfront Newstead

Mirvac is soliciting interest for the next stage of its Waterfront, Newstead project.

See www.launch2014.com.au

Often, I register on these kind of sites, and never hear back.  When the developer is setting the sales price of apartments off-the-plan, one factor taken into account is how much interest they have in the presales stages.  Developers count the number of registrations on sites such as this, and take this information into account in setting price.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Luxury Apartments

Monday, June 13, 2011

Waterfront Pier

I visited Mirvac's Waterfront project at Newstead recently, to see the completed Pier buildings. I was disappointed. The project has a barren, Russian communistic look. The buildings are light grey in colour, and have very little character. Nearby is the older Mariners Reach - it has a much more friendly and Queensland feel.

There is a park area behind Pier. Deserted and windswept. A very poorly designed and uninviting children's playground, with an unfenced pond nearby. A wasteland.

Shortly after, I drove to West End. Full of people, and much more lively.

Update: Mirvac reports that of the 99 apartments in Pier, 57 sold prior to completion. Of these, only 43 settled. That means that 14 buyers or about 25% of off-the-plan purchasers did not settle their contracts. Not good at all. Also, with prices for 3 bedroom apartments over $2 million, but rents only at $1750, not a great investment. That gives less than a 4.6% gross return, when other apartments in Brisbane are getting about 6% gross rental return.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Waterfront Newstead

RESIDENTS of Newstead and surrounding suburbs could be in for 12 years of construction and added traffic as a new waterfront development takes shape.

Two apartment blocks have been completed at Waterfront Newstead, but a spokesperson for development company Mirvac said the finish date could be more than a decade away, depending on market demand.

Of the 99 apartments already constructed, 54 have been sold, with the penthouse selling at a Brisbane property industry record of $14.25million.

City News

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Pradella

I repeat this comment from a reader, who purchased at Parklands Sherwood from Pradella, the developer. I agree.

"One has to wonder how the planning controls that regulate development could be allowed to bypass the building flood heights of 1974.
The floods came perilously close to inundation through those long dark hours of the 11/12 January 2011. The townhouses were going under the Resident Manager was knocking on the doors advising all to evacuate. We all wondered what would be the outcome.
Pradella, I wonder….. who you fed your big fat envelope to! When you were spruking to purchasers that the 1974 flood height was to the level of the swimming pool and that the complex would be built 2.5 metres above this height so that there would never be any flood risk.
I was assured when I purchased my apartment Parklands @ Sherwood from Coldwell Banker the selling Agents for Pradella Developments that the complex would not flood as it was built 2.5 metres above the 1974 flood levels. Do you think I would ever waste my money buying an apartment which was in the 1974 flood zone.
Who do you hold responsible? The Developer Pradella, The Water Board!, and/or the Brisbane City Council who aided and abetted in the development.
Why did Queensland Water allow a massive discharge of 645,000 megalitres from Wivenhoe Dam on Tuesday, at the peak of the flood crisis.
Between cleaning up and moving out on Tuesday 12 January 2011, several owners have expressed dismay that the only people that Pradella’s on site Managers addressed was their 30 or so rental Property tenants not once in their address did anyone from PRADELLA acknowledge the huge financial losses now impacting the Owners, nor the disruption to living and the associated expenses imposed as a result of water inundation.
Somebody from Pradella maybe even Mr Kim Pradella himself should explain to property owners the true flood levels and the Council should consider why the development, should have been approved!
Confused – Angry Lot Owner"
Pradella's communication (and that off their onsite managers, Central Apartments, controlled by Pradella), has been hopeless. And it seems that Pradella has a habit of buying cheap land, and then developing. Low & behold, many Pradella apartments have flooded:

Parklands Sherwood: (from the Pradella website): ""20/01/11: Whilst an amazing effort has been undertaken by Building management, Developer staff, tenants and residents, friends of tenants and residents, volunteers and emergency service staff in progressing the cleanup, much work is still required. Damage to services is still being assessed and whilst we hope power may be restored to some of the areas soon, other services and facilities will take considerable time to return to normal.:

Waters Edge (from the Pradella website): "20/01/11: Whilst significant progress has been made on the cleanup effort, the building is still without power and telecommunications due to the damage to equipment in the basement. All residents and tenants have been evacuated and quite obviously due to power issues, the building is not liveable at this point.

West End Central (from the Pradella website): "21/01/11: The clean up continues and the car park is looking better each day. We are hopeful that the repair of the electrical switchboard will commence next week. 20/01/11: Regretfully little change or positive news from what was reported earlier this week. 18/01/11: Whilst no flooding occurred in the lobby, reception pool area or apartments, the property has still been severely affected.

Encore Toowong: Flooded

Tempo West End: Flooded

Left Bank West End: Flooded

Flow West End: Mildly Flooded

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tennyson Reach Flooded

Extracts from Story from The Australian:

"Yesterday, as the smell in the luxury dwellings at Tennyson Reach, home to tennis greats including Ashley Cooper, rose with the temperature and humidity, owners wondered how the planning controls that were meant to regulate development could have gone so wrong.

Several said they were assured before buying that the ground level would not flood unless the Brisbane River reached a mark of 8.4m, well above the 4.46m at which it peaked last Thursday after a massive discharge of 645,000 megalitres from Wivenhoe Dam on Tuesday.

Between cleaning up and moving out yesterday, several owners said they needed explanations from Mirvac and the council about their true flood immunity and whether the development, completed less than two years ago, should have been approved, given its history of inundation.

The flooding at Tennyson Reach is one small part of a major problem for Brisbane City Council and the Queensland government, as the losses of owners, the liability of developers, and the policies of governments combine in a perfect storm of recrimination and confusion. The residential precinct went through all the council's usual approvals process after the Beattie government sought tenders to make something glorious from the site of the abandoned and obsolete power station.

Apartment owner Chrissie Buchanan, who bought in June 2009 with her husband, Sam, who is a quadriplegic, has had damaged floors, walls and cabinets. She said she was fortunate to have insurance and was in a lot better position than many in Brisbane.

"The things that have been damaged are easily replaced," Ms Buchanan said. "There are people who have lost their businesses and houses. I feel for people who are a lot worse off than ourselves."

She said flooding risk was "not an issue" that was canvassed when she and her husband bought the property. "You never believe it's going to happen to you," she said.

Keith George, who paid $2.25 million for his ground-floor apartment 18 months ago, said he had waist-level water throughout his property. As a result, he will have to rip up floors and carpets, rebuild walls, and most of the apartment's cabinets will have to be replaced. "I'm going to have to spend at least $100,000 to replace the cabinetry," he said. "We won't be back in here for months."

Mr George said the flood risk never came up when he was buying the property, partly because City Hall had approved the development.

"And I always believed the Wivenhoe would not let the Brisbane River come up," he said.

Another resident, Julie Savage, said most people living in the complex were not too concerned on Tuesday night when other parts of the city started to evacuate their homes.

"I got the impression everyone was relaxed because it could withstand a flood of 8.4m, so it would all be fine," she said.

It is not only residents on the ground floor who are affected, with those on the many levels above unable to return home because there is no power and no lifts working. "They were saying 12 weeks until they can return, but it might be eight," Mr George said.

...

Mirvac Development Queensland chief executive Matthew Wallace, who inspected the development yesterday, said the priority was to work with the body corporate to get the buildings reinstated, and "get peoples' lives and properties back together".

The flooding hit the apartments 12 hours before the peak in Brisbane of 4.46m. It is believed the body corporate does not have flood insurance.

Several owners who bought their apartments before the global financial crisis had looked for loopholes to litigate a way out of their contracts before settlement, but failed after filing actions in the District Court. The irony is that being misled over the level of their flood immunity might have provided a perfect exit.

After successfully defending itself against some residents' claims that it misrepresented the quality of the river views, as well as a host of technical legal arguments surrounding the contract documents, Mirvac said the original buyers had to meet, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars in default interest and associated costs."

Mirvac Group said its Waterfront Newstead development had experienced some basement flooding, while its Tennyson Reach building had basement and ground floor inundation.

Mirvac added that the Brisbane floods were having a limited impact on its residential projects.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Top End Heading Towards The Bottom

Here is evidence that, despite what real estate agents and developers tell you, the top end apartment market is not going great. Many people have overpaid in the past 4 years.

Apt 80 in Flow, at West End, now listed for $1,850,000. This is a massive 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathrooms, 4 car, riverview penthouse apartment. It is 272 sqm internal, and 370 sqm total floor space. It has been for sale for a while. It went to auction in March 2009 and did not sell. (It was purchased off-the-plan in 2006 for over $2.3M. I think a real estate agent's investment company purchased it, but am not sure. So with stamp duty and interest, a loss over well over half a million bucks!)

By comparison, Apt 23, on a lower floor (3rd floor -- partial river views) - 3 bedrooms, was listed for sale by the developer for $1.4M in November 2007.

Or the same developer, Pradella, was selling apartments off-the-plan in Waters Edge next door in May 2008 which are not as good for $1.9M to $2.2M (these are A1 and A2 apartments, 159 sqm, 3 bedrooms).

So you can see that prices being paid for expensive apartments have not held up. (Flow and Waters Edge and Riverpoint are not the greatest locations, looking west, in a semi-industrial area a long walk from any facilities. Infrastructure touted by developers 4 years ago has not arrived.)

If Flow has been a bad investment for some, what about a $4.5M capital loss. See this story.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Mirvac's Waterfront - New "Park" release


Mirvac has started its pre-release sales campaign for the Park building at its Waterfront development in Newstead. From the materials I have seen, it will have about 100 apartments. The building is divided into two sections, Park North and Park South. There is a mix of 2 and 3 bed apartments, plus some 1 bedrooms at the back of the buildings. It appears that this building has no gym or pool.

The floorplans are very Mirvac. For example, the smallest 2 bedroom apartment has a floorplan similar to the two bedroom apartments in Mirvac's Arbour on Grey at Southbank. The difference is size. The Park two bedroom is 81 sqm internal with a 14 sqm balcony, for a total of 95sqm. The similar Arbour on Grey apartment is 106 sqm in total.

That being said, there are some larger two bedrooms, and all seem to be well designed. There are floor-thu apartments, with the living at the front and bedrooms at the rear. The two bedroom apartments range in size from 95sqm total, to 108sqm, to 112sqm, to 116 sqm.

In some of the 2 bedroom apartments, the living room is very small, and is only 3.5m wide, which in my view is too tight. Most of the apartments have the laundry in a cupboard, and have a galley kitchen along the dining room wall (and no island bench).

The building is way back from the river, on a park to be constructed -- the site was an old industrial site, and had contamination problems that have been cleaned up.

Mirvac plans about 7 other buildings for this site, so there will always be more apartments to compete with. Also, FKP and others are building on Newstead River Park site.That being said, it is generally a good location. See maps here and here and here.

What concerns me is price. An equivalent Mirvac two bed apartment, overlooking Southbank Parklands or the Brisbane Botanical Gardens would sell in the price range $650K to $800K, with sizes from 106 sqm to 132 sqm, and river views. It appears that these new Park apartments, although smaller and newer, will sell for $100,000s more than the current price for a quality Mirvac apartment in Brisbane.

And remember that Mirvac had over 15 apartments fail to settle at Tennyson, and they were resold about 20% less than the original sales price.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Water's Edge Update

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Future Brisbane Apartment Developments

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Water's Edge at West End - Traffic Concerns

Brisbane apartment project dismisses transport concerns

The company behind a new apartment complex in Brisbane's West End says it does not think the project will worsen local traffic flow. The old box cardboard factory near the Brisbane River will be replaced by 220 apartments. There will be two eight-storey towers built on the site.

Ross Higgins from Pradella Developments says it should attract more transport infrastructure to the area.

"West End's undergoing a major infrastructure redevelopment from a traffic point of view now," he said.

"And really what we're doing is replacing a lot of people that were working in the area anyway.

"I don't believe it'll have a negative effect on transport in fact I think that it'll bring more transport infrastructure to the area."

Source: ABC News

In fact, there are plans for more than two buildings on the site -- with two or three buildings planned for the other side of Duncan Street as well, as shown on the map on the project website.

See also Brisbane Times

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Waterfront Newstead Update

From a letter from Mirvac dated July 15, 2008:

46 of 99 apartments in Pier North and Pier South were under contract prior to public release on June 21, and 9 more sold since.

Prices achieved ranged from $1.98M to $14.25M.

Available apartments priced from $2.15M to $4.75M and penthouses from $6.4M to $8.9M.

"Park" apartments to be released in mid-2009. Prices expected to start from $800,000.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Newstead Waterfront

Record-breaker rises from toxic wasteland

Fiona Cameron | June 27, 2008

The Australian

AN apartment to be built on formerly contaminated land in inner-city Brisbane has sold off the plan for $14.25 million, smashing the city's residential price record.

The buyer has not been identified but developer Mirvac said it was a Brisbane businessman who planned to make the riverfront luxury penthouse at Newstead his principal place of residence.

The contract, which will be settled when the building is completed in mid-2010, was signed two weeks ago and became unconditional on Tuesday.

Mirvac's proposed Waterfront project is on a site that is part of a larger land parcel that was home to a gasworks until 1968 and still contains the heritage-listed steel skeleton of a giant old gas tank dating from 1860.

The surrounding land became a toxic nightmare for various parties involved and was the subject of long-running litigation over its clean-up until the Environmental Protection Agency finally gave it a tick of approval in April. In the past five years, one million tonnes of soil had been removed from the 17.4ha site, some dug from as far as 9m below ground level, Mirvac said yesterday.

Mirvac said three other apartments in the Waterfront project had been sold for prices ranging between $5.95 million and $8.75million. In total, 60 apartments had been sold for a total $201 million before the project's public release this week.

The penthouse deal has overshot Brisbane's previous residential record by more than $3 million. That record had stood only since April last year when John and Susan George paid $11.2 million for a historic sandstone home on Hamilton hill that was owned by the Anglican Church and home to its archbishops for decades. Mr George is the founder of the Mrs Crocket's salad business.

The Newstead penthouse deal is a graphic indicator of where money is flowing at the market's top end: many of the biggest deals these days are in super-flash apartments rather than old-style mansions.

Developers have zoned in on the trend, and according to agency DTZ's project marketing director, Paul Barratt, another three apartment projects planned in inner Brisbane will have penthouses priced above $14 million.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Waterfront at Newstead


Mirvac has released its top end apartments for its Waterfront Newstead project. Overall, this project will consist of a huge number of apartments. The first release was of the 99 best apartments, with river views. All apartments are large 3 or 4 bedroom apartments. Many have sold. Price range $2,150,000 to $4,500,000 for apartments and $6.4M to $8.9M for penthouses. These are all large apartments, but constructed on a highly contaminated (and hopefully cleaned) site.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Waterfront Newstead

Mirvac's first mailout for their Waterfront project at Newstead has taken place.

Construction of the sales centre on Evelyn Street is underway.

Mirvac plans to release two buildings with the Pier area in the first half of this year.

The website at www.mirvac.com.au/waterfrontnewstead/ states one building will be 5 storeys and the other will be 8 storeys, and will comprise premium 3 and 4 bedroom apartments.

There will be a lake, a 6 hectare park, and a total of 650 apartments across all buildings when complete in 2015 -2017.