West End Residents Upset

" West End Riverside residents are fighting Brisbane City Council proposals to turn the former industrial area into a concrete jungle. Secretary of Regatta Apartments body corporate committee Paul Rees said residents of the new Riverside apartment buildings were stunned at learning the Council’s draft neighbourhood plan would allow 12 storey buildings in the area, when the current plan provides for seven storeys, while elsewhere in West End, 30 storey high rise buildings will be allowed.

“What Council is proposing is outrageous,” Mr Rees said. “The draft neighbourhood plan is a plan to wreck our neighbourhood.”

“It’s horrifying that the Council is planning to wreck the heart of West End, with five storey buildings planned for Boundary Street, Vulture Street and Jane Street, and 15 storey buildings on Mollison Street. This may mean windfall profits for the Council’s developer mates but it’s local people and the wider Brisbane community that has to pay.”

Riverside residents from the seven new apartment complexes, as well as residents from “old” West End, will meet at the Big Lizard in Boundary Street at 12.30pm on Saturday before walking en masse to the Council’s community consultation session at the Kurilpa Senior Citizens hall.

“New and old residents alike want to see the old industrial areas redeveloped but it has to be on a human-scale which protects West End’s village atmosphere,” Mr Rees said.

“Residents have made this clear to the Council through countless community consultations but the plan they’ve come up with ignores this input and betrays the community. It appears Council wants to crowd more than 25,000 extra people into the area – the equivalent of the population of Gympie. We want a vibrant, liveable, sustainable community and what they are trying to foist on West End will create concrete canyons, wind tunnels, overcrowding and alienation."

Source

The Wave, West End

A Korean developer called Mirae Queensland Pty Ltd is in the final steps of obtaining development approval for an apartment complex at West End, just behind Stockland's Koko project. The development is called "The Wave" and is located at 321 Montague Street, West End.

It is an 8 storey development, proposed to have 424 apartments. There are a large number of studios and one bed apartments. In total, there are 563 bedrooms in the development. There are over 500 car parks. So this development will have a large number of apartments.

There will also be some retail in the development.

There have been a significant number of objections filed to the Development Application, so it is not certain whether or when this will go ahead.

Brisbane Vacancy Rate

Vacancy rate for all Brisbane properties (houses and apartments, anywhere in Brisbane) is a low 1.9%

SQM has a good website to look at rental vacancy rates:
Brisbane City (4000 postcode) - 1.7%
South Brisbane area (4101) - 1.6%
Toowong (4066) - 1.4%
St Lucia (4067) - 1.5%
Indooroopilly (4068) - 1.9%
Sherwood area (4075) - 2.6%
Hamilton (4007) - 4.4%
Noosa (4567) - 2.2%
Mooloolaba (4557) - 1.3%

See also story in Courier Mail

"INNER Brisbane rents are increasing at more than 10 per cent a year, with a downturn in new apartments expected to keep vacancies tight.

DTZ Research has shown the biggest growth has been in one-bedroom units in the inner south and inner west suburbs of South Brisbane, West End and Indooroopilly, where rents have risen by up to 20 per cent.

The median rent of a one-bedroom unit in the inner south is now $420 a week, only $10 less than the CBD median price. DTZ director of project marketing Paul Barratt said the strongest growth in the next two years would be in near-city units and middle-ring suburbs with good transport."

SL8 in West End

SL8 in West End is nearing completion. The building has an industrial look, and the apartments have good views of industrial sheds.

2 bedroom listed for re-sale at $570,000 (Apt 203)
2 bedroom listed for resale at $560,000 (Apt 213)
2 bedroom listed at $690,000 (Apt 241)
2 bedroom listed at $550,000 (Apt 142)
2 bedroom listed at $617,000 (Apt 214)

For most of these apartments, the second bedroom looks over the back (open) hallway.

"With more than 90% of the 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments sold, limited opportunities remain to invest in SL8’s West End apartments. The two bedroom apartment final release is now selling from $565,000-$975,000."

See SL8 Real Estate (FKP)

Update: See readers comments here.

REIQ Apartment Price Report for Brisbane - Dec Qtr 2008

As house prices escalated, units and townhouses were the most affordable – and often the only – option for first home buyers. But with the $14,000 and $21,000 boost monies now available, many first-time buyers can now afford to buy a modest house instead.

“This trend, plus investors not yet comprehensively returning to the market, means the unit and townhouse market has been affected by lower overall demand in the December quarter. Over the year, however, most areas recorded steady price growth,” REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said.

Brisbane City - Median December 08 Qtr - $460,000, with 2.2% increase over the Dec 07 results.
Indooroopilly - Median December 08 Qtr - $375,000, with 6.6% increase over the Dec 07 results.
Taringa - Median December 08 Qtr - $365,000, with 10.4% increase over the Dec 07 results.
Toowong - Median December 08 Qtr - $342,500, with 14.9% increase over the Dec 07 results.
West End - Median December 08 Qtr - $524,000, with 7.9% increase over the Dec 07 results.

Water's Edge Progressing But Slowly

Pradella reports as follows:
"Waters Edge has received a fantastic response since its October launch late last year and has now achieved 50 sales in total to date. Despite the uncertain times, investors are regaining confidence and returning to the property market. Waters Edge, located on the river at West End, is testament to this with 2 apartments sold within the last week, with a further 3 expressions of interest obtained."

SL8 Opinion part two

I drove past SL8 today in West End. I was not impressed. Although still under construction, to me it looks like a cheap motel from the 1950s. All the railings for the balconies are metal pipe rails. So from the front, it looks very uniform with railings going the complete width from left to right on every floor, without a break. From the back, it looks even worse. You may not realise, but the apartments don't have closed hallways. The door opens onto a hall that is outside -- and with the same rails going along the whole length. So you will be exposed to the the rain, heat and wind as soon as you open your door. The building looks to me like a larger version of the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated when leaving his room.

SL8 Update

"With more than 90% of the 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments sold, limited opportunities remain to invest in SL8’s West End apartments. The two bedroom apartment final release is now selling from $565,000-$975,000."

Source: SL8 website

West End Overpriced?

What would you pay for a new 2 bedroom apartment at the southern end of West End, with nice views of a factory roof, surrounded by industrial buildings, walking distance to nothing, an irregular bus a few times a day, brown carpets and "a minimalist look"? How about $579,000 in Ferry Road, West End? That just seems extremely high to me. Buyers beware!

Water's Edge Update

From a Pradella newletter:
"Despite Brisbane's uncertain property market, buyer confidence remains strong for Waters Edge with an unprecented $40 million in sales made since its launch. Forty-eight of the 221 apartments have sold to a mix of investors and owner-occupiers, as buyers look to quickly capitalise by purchasing at the unique site."

"Consisting of two eight-storey buildings, named Drift and Reach, one, two and three bedroom apartments are available, priced from $540,000.In addition to the apartments, there are 32 premium absolute riverfrontage apartments called the Riverfront Collection that have a total area of between 188-332m2, consist of 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms plus a separate multi-purpose room and study, priced from $1.795 million are for buyers searching for the ultimate in inner-city luxury living."

Water's Edge at West End Update

A friend forwarded an email to me, recently received from Pradella, that included the following:

"Pradella have adjusted the pricing of some of the apartments in ‘Reach’ at Waters Edge. We have now sold 50 apartments, but we need to keep moving toward our pre sales targets, hence the pricing adjustments. The 1 beds have not been adjusted, but some of the 2 bed plus 1 bath, and 2 bed plus 2 bath have, and there are some very good buys to be had."

My guess is that no construction will commence until there are about 100 pre-sales.

Riverpoint Update

Riverpoint reports that it has reconfigured some of their apartment layouts:

"... we are about to release a whole new range of designs, in response to public demand. They incorporate a range of 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartments, 3 bedrooms apartments and Sub Penthouses. These stunning new designs will be released to the Brisbane Property Market on Saturday the 25th of October."

"The new Super Penthouse will be built over floors 7 and 8 of Mosaic [note: this is not a direct riverfront building] and will raise the level of riverfront living to unexpected heights, in this rapidly evolving prestige location. The Super Penthouse will be spread over 700m² of exceptional living. It will also incorporate a 70m² ballroom/entertaining space on the 7th floor, complete with its own private lift to level 8 – The Owners Enclave."

West End Unit Owners are Concerned

"WEST END: Riverside apartment dwellers are banding together in a bid to give their direction on the future shape of the community. More than 30 residents from the Flow, Koko, Leftbank and Tempo complexes have met to discuss the need to build a sense of community in the area. Regatta Apartments body corporate chairman Paul Rees said they hoped to build a liveable community, not only for apartment dwellers but the whole of West End.

“We’re planning a series of regular events to build community in our area and the first event will be a breakfast in Riverside Park on Sunday, December 7 at 9am,” Mr Rees said.

He said they invited local, state and federal representatives as well as community groups and property developers to attend the breakfast to hear their ideas. Among residents’ concerns are building heights, closing Riverside Drive to public traffic and fast-tracking plans for a CityCat terminal. And Mr Rees said residents felt they were not consulted about increasing building heights.

“We are appalled at the suggestions of 15, 20 and 30-storey highrises being built here,” he said.

“We moved into this area believing the height limit would be seven storeys and we don’t want to see our area turned into a concrete jungle,” Mr Rees said.

He said a CityCat terminal and a reliable bus service on Montague Rd were important to give residents adequate public transport. Mr Rees said they supported redevelopment of the old riverside industrial areas as long as it was on a “human scale” and integrated with the established community of West End, “rather than creating a concrete barrier between West End and the river”."

See City South News

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

West Village

Aria has launched a website for its South Brisbane - West End project, currently in the final stages of council approval.

www.gowestend.com.au

This project will have mostly small one bedroom apartments, priced from $380,000. There will be some two bedroom apartments, priced from $660,000.

The building will be located on Edmondstone Street in South Brisbane.

SL8 Opinion

FKP is selling various apartments at SL8 at West End. These include:

• Six Skyhomes: 2 storey, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, priced at $1.165M to $1.195M
  
• Two storey ground floor terrace houses, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 115sqm internal, priced at $895,000 to $915,000
  
• A penthouse with claimed river views, 3 bedrooms, at $975,000.

I am skeptical about this development. Despite having Donovan Hill as the architect, and some larger apartments with large and interesting terraces, in my view, this is a B grade location. It is in an industrial area, and any view will be of industrial sheds and poor quality offices. (Have a look at StreetView in Google Maps.) It is not located on the river. It is a long walk to any shops or restaurants. It is over 2kms to the downtown, so a long walk. No ferry or train nearby. The better view is to the west or south-west, which is not great. Some of the "cheaper" two bedroom apartments, which are less than 90sqm internal, have an internal bedroom -- that is, the windows for that bedroom appear to go to the common hallway and not the outside.

According to the FKP website:

"With more than 90% of 1,2 & 3 bedroom apartments sold limited opportunities remain to invest in SL8 with two bedroom apartment final release now selling from $565,000-$975,000."

When FKP is taken over, I wonder what the new owner will do in relation to SL8.

Google Insights

Google has an interesting service, that allows you to see what people are searching for on Google.

It is called Google Insights. It is helpful when making investment decisions.

For example, when looking at searches conducted in Australia over the past 12 months, the following are relative rankings of various searches:

trilogy brisbane	27
mill albion	38
empire square	44
westin brisbane	21
sl8	13

mirvac	59
pradella	1
devine	62
fkp	10
stockland	56

indooroopilly	62
new farm	40
west end	54
st lucia	19
toowong	44

REIQ Apartment Price Report for Brisbane - First Q 2008

REIQ March Quarter Unit Report:

Downtown Brisbane:
Median March Quarter: $450,000
Median 12 months to end of March 08: $449,755
Change over 1 year - 6.5%

West End:
Median March Quarter: $625,000
Median 12 months to end of March 08: $518,500

St Lucia:
Median March Quarter: $510,000
Median 12 months to end of March 08: $401,500

Indooroopilly
Median March Quarter: $425,000
Median 12 months to end of March 08: $401,750

From the Brisbane Times:

"REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said current figures reflect historical averages for the year's first quarter.

"Brisbane is coming down off a high, so to speak ... the market is simply returning to normal," Mr McGrath said.

Yet Mr McGrath conceded investor demand has cooled recently as servicing increasing loan repayments becomes more difficult.

"Investors appear to be staying out of the market until rents reach a level where they match the increase in interest rates and they are confident that the market has definitely stabilised," he said.

The trend has been felt hardest within the CBD, where apartments in complexes on Charlotte Street have remained unsold for four months.

"It is taking 30 days longer to sell inner-city apartments because investors are bowing out," LJ Hooker Brisbane Central principal agent Alexandra Rutherford said.

Prices have been scaled back accordingly Ms Rutherford said.

"We have had apartments priced at $480,000 reduced to $460,000 and some reduced to $420,000."

However, Mr McGrath warned real estate agents against judging the current market against last year's anomoly.

"I don't think some agents realised how good it was last year, thinking. it could last forever. Now we are just moving back to a more traditional market," he said."

Water's Edge at West End - Now Released

Pradella's Water End development (Stage 1) at West End has been released. Pricing is aggressive.

1 bedroom (Apartment Type G - 61 sqm internal). High floors will likely have river views.
Facing South/West - $475,000 to $625,000
Facing North - $495,000 to $695,000
Most of these sold out on the first day of pre-release.

2 bedrooms

Apartment Type L - 84 sqm internal
Facing North - $665,000 to $945,000
To get a river view, I think you need to pay at least $835,000 for this style apartment.
Plans below. Click on plan to enlarge. As you can see, one bedroom really has no windows.

Apartment Type C2 - 103 sqm internal
Facing North, and close to the river but not a direct river view
$1,055,000 to $1,295,000. Not all of these will have a river view.

Apartment Type D - 113 sqm internal
Facing North, and in the centre of the complex with a pool view and some higher floors will have a river view.
$1,095,000 to $1,320,000.

There are other 2 bedroom layouts, and facing different directions.

3 bedrooms

Apartment Type C1 - 115 sqm internal
3 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom (one bedroom does not have a window - see plan below)
Facing north, but not direct riverfront and some may be too low to have river views - $1,230,000 to $1,630,000

Direct riverfront 3 bedrooms - Types A1 and A2 (159 sqm internal), facing West
$1,945,000 to $2,245,000

Water's Edge at West End - Release Date

According to an email from Colliers, Waters Edge at West End will be released for sale next week:

Prices from

· 1 bedroom from $495,000

· 2 bedroom from $575,000

· Large 2 bedroom from $815,000

· 3 bedroom from $1,085,000

· Large 3 bedroom from $1,945,000

Car parking

1 & 2 bedroom - one space
Large 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom - two spaces

Settlement - 2010