brisbaneapartment’s blog

New York or Brisbane

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:41:46 +1100

A luxury apartment on Fifth Avenue in NYC is a similar price to a luxury apartment in Brisbane. How can this be?
For example, see this brochure, that was issued at the height of the NY property boom.
http://www.newyorkresidence.com/Pictures/CompanyNews/1997_141_Fifth_Avenue_UPDATE.pdf

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Hamilton Harbour Update

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:30:27 +1100

"Strong pre-sales of residential units in Hamilton Harbour stage 1 with 89% of 257 units now sold. (This project is also a JV with Leighton Properties) ... Hamilton Harbour and King George Central forecast to commence later this calendar year subject to finance being secured."

Devine Annoucement

"SALES LEVELS ACHIEVED ON STAGE 1 OF THE HAMILTON HARBOUR MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND RETAIL DEVELOPMENT HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EARLIER EXPECTATIONS. ... TOGETHER WITH LEIGHTON PROPERTIES WE HAVE NOW COMMENCED THE PROCESS OF SECURING FUNDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE AND, GIVEN THE HIGH LEVEL OF PRESALES ACHIEVED, ARE CONFIDENT OF ACHIEVING THIS TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION TO COMMENCE SHORTLY."

AGM Speach

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The Mill at Albion

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:20:09 +1100

The rumor around town is that the Mill at Albion development, by FKP, has been shelved and will not go ahead.

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Tennyson Reach Lawsuit

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:01:02 +1100

Tennyson Reach Lawsuit Judgment

As previously noted, Mirvac is suing a number of its off-the-plan customers for failure to settle at the over-priced Tennyson Reach development. Mirvac was recently successful in court on one issue. A purchaser claimed that the lot size of the apartment was 1sqm less than shown on the plan. This is what the court said on this issue:

"The contract provided that the seller could make changes to the size of a lot of up to five per cent (more or less) than that shown in the Disclosure Statement. Accordingly, the description of the floor area on the plan insofar as it operated to clearly identify the lot should be taken to be up to five per cent different (more or less) from 177 m2, namely that it would have an area of between 168.15 m2 and 185.85 m2. On this basis the reduction in the size of the balcony by 1 m2 as depicted on later plans including plans that became part of the second further statement did not mean that the Disclosure Statement contained information concerning the floor area of the proposed lot that became inaccurate.

In short, insofar as the description of the floor area served to clearly identify the lot, the floor area was to be between 168.15 m2 and 185.85 m2 and this information did not become inaccurate after the Disclosure Statement was given. On this basis, the reduction in the size of the balcony by 1 m2 did not give rise to an inaccuracy that the plaintiff was required to address in a rectification statement under s 22."

The leason to learn here is that most off-the-plan contracts have a clause that says that apartment sizes can vary. In this case, the purchaser could have ended up with 10sqm less than what they believed they were getting, and would still be required to settle.

See http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QSC09-269.pdf

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Mosaic, on Ann Street, in the Valley

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:00:05 +1100

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 240 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.

Mosaic

Ann Street

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Promenade At Portside

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:57:31 +1100

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

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Bicycle Sharing

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:23:07 +1100

The Brisbane City Council has proposed a bicycle sharing system, based on the one in Paris.
Here is a good story about the reality of the Paris system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/europe/31bikes.html

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Architect's Website

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:49:14 +1030

Ellivo Architects have a nice website, with photos of the developments they have worked on.
http://www.ellivo.com/folio_menu/folio_menu1.html
Ellivo did the work for the upcoming Yungaba development, as well as Trilogy Spring Hill and Solito. You can see photos of how the developments actually turned out.

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REIQ) June quarter gross rental yield report - extract Brisbane apartments

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:49:04 +1030

Locality	Weighted average median¹	Median Rent /Wk	Annualised Median Rent²	Gross Rental Yield
Brisbane City/Spring Hill	$360,676	$540	$28,080	7.8%
Buranda/Dutton Park/Wooloongabba	$337,000	$380	$19,760	5.9%
East Bris/Kangaroo Point	$401,306	$435	$22,620	5.6%
Highgate Hill/South Bris/West End	$440,704	$460	$23,920	5.4%
Bowen Hills/Valley/Newstead	$472,500	$450	$23,400	5.0%
St Lucia	$455,000	$415	$21,580	4.7%
Indooroopilly/Taringa	$395,150	$360	$18,720	4.7%
Paddington	$387,500	$350	$18,200	4.7%
New Farm	$435,750	$390	$20,280	4.7%
Ascot/Hamilton	$372,869	$325	$16,900	4.5%
Corinda/Sherwood	$361,500	$300	$15,600	4.3%
Auchenflower/Toowong	$448,455	$350	$18,200	4.1%
Chermside	$416,500	$320	$16,640	4.0%
Kelvin Grove/Red Hill	$493,103	$340	$17,680	3.6%

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Matisse Tower

nobody@vox.com(brisbaneapartment) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:35:58 +1030

Recently, a number of purchasers of real estate in an off-the-plan strata title office development in Brisbane, the Matisse Tower, got out of their contracts.

See

APM Property 3 Pty Ltd v Blondeau & Ors [2009] QSC 326 (8 October 2009)

It has been reported that Alec Spencer, who is or was associated with Matisse Tower, is in financial trouble.

He is quoted in The Australian as being a director of the developer of Matisse
Brisbane's Matisse Tower office sales at $40m | The Australian

His consultancy company has also been mentioned in NSW Parliament.

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