20 posts tagged “admiralty two”

A reader, Ruth Bonnett, sent me this:

"I am thankful that our Local Councillor, David Hinchliffe has brought this overcrowding problem to the surface.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26127822-3102,00.html 

Have any of you noticed overcrowding in your buildings?  Are you concerned about the increase in costs to all owners?

Surely there is something Local Council “Can Do”?  Can our State Government help?"

Recent sales in Admiralty Two in Brisbane in May to July 2009

• Apt 20, level 4, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 103 sqm - $725,000
• Apt 80, level 14, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 103 sqm - $725,000
• Apt 97, level 17, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 116 sqm - $780,000
• Apt 106, level 18, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 116 sqm - $750,000
• Apt 137, level 24, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 116 sqm - $815,000

Source:  Email from Alan Caughey, Harcourts

Photos of the Admiralty apartment precinct, on the Brisbane River.  From left to right, the apartment buildings are Admiralty Towers Two, Admiralty One, Admiralty Quays and River Place.  Note that Skyline and Macrossan are not river front building.  Skyline is the gray building behind Admiralty One.  Macrossan is still under construction behind Skyline and cannot be seen.

AdmiraltyBrisbane

Admiralty

Introduction

Even though the vacancy rate is increasing in Brisbane, many of the good apartments for rent are hard to find. Often, this is because the existing tenant does not leave, and when they do become available, are snapped up quickly. For the better buildings, a large percentage of the apartments are occupied by the owner, and so are not rented out. Also, onsite managers often control the rental rolls, and don't often advertise on the usual property websites (as they don't need to do so). Some have their own website. Also, onsite managers may have a relationship with executive relocation services, that are fed the better apartments.

At one time, a good specialist website for apartments was http://www.seqrents.com.au However, it seems that some buildings are not using this site anymore, or are not bothering to update their listing on this site. So, although useful, it is less useful.

The largest number of listings are located on RealEstate.com.au, but a number of onsite managers do not use this website.

You have to find out how each manager advertises his/her vacancy.

Generally, you want to avoid any buildings managed by Oaks, as they focus on short term hotel style rentals.

Inner City Brisbane:

I recommend Arbour on Grey at SouthBank: http://arbour.com.au/cms/welcome.html

Also, Saville at SouthBank is one of the nicest buildings if you get a river facing apartment: http://www.seqrents.com.au/saville/index.htm. The best thing to do here is call, because the website is not updated regularly. Telephone 07 3305 2559

If you want to live downtown, then I recommend the Admiralty Precinct. This comprises three first-tier buildings (Admiralty One, Admiralty Two and Admiralty Quays), plus River Place (good location, not as good quality) and Skyline (second tier).

Admiralty One is good value, and has some of the largest two bedroom apartments in Brisbane - http://www.admiraltyone.com.au/

Admiralty Two also has good sized apartments, and the building has great facilities. http://www.admiraltytwo.com.au/

Admiralty Quays is newer, and has a great pool, but the apartments are smaller. and it is more expensive. http://www.admiraltyquays.com/

Nearby on the river in the city is River Place, that is not as good quality, but is likely to have availability as this is a large complex. Careful of Storey Bridge noise. Great views.

On Alice Street in the city, if you can get an apartment in Quay West, that is fantastic, as it has park and river views -- for long term rentals, the best agent to try is Blockside & Fergerson for this building. Half of this building is a hotel managed, so it is easy to get short term accommodation in Quay West. All apartments are privately owned. You want to get above level 7.

For an inner city downtown building, Metro 21 is one of the better quality buildings. It has only 4 apartments per floor -- and tries to be more upmarket so is better than most buildings that aim at students -- it seems to have better availability, and some of the two bedroom apartments have three bathrooms. The baloneys are large: http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/metro+21+brisbane/mlibri
and http://www.metro21apartments.com.au/

Apartments in Suburbs

The suburbs that I recommend, due to location, transport and large number of better quality apartments, are Toowong, St Lucia, Taringa, Indooroopilly and possibly Milton and Hamilton. I don't recommend Chermside.

The newest complex in the Toowong / Taringa area is Fresh. This complex has two pools, a gym and great gardens. http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/acorn+realty+taringa/nrqhzu

Next door to Fresh is Encore, which is a relatively nice complex, with good pricing (but not as nice as Fresh, and some of the apartments are small). http://www.seqrents.com.au/encore/

St Lucia is harder to find quality -- there are few onsite managers. So you have to try local real estate agents, such as Ray White (who also has listings in Fresh).

In Indooroopilly, there has been recent construction, so there are a number of new, quality buildings. My two picks are Riva and Ciana.

Riva has apartments with great river views. It is a quiet building, with a pool, and is close to the train station and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre http://www.seqrents.com.au/riva/

Ciana is a larger new complex, in a central location, with many large apartments. There is a pool and gym, plus a bowls club! http://www.ciana.com.au/

If you want an apartment complex that feels more suburban, then Parklands at Sherwood is a great choice. Many apartments have park/rural views, and there is a great pool and bbq area http://www.centralsherwood.com.au/.

Nearby is Tennyson Reach, where you can get a large new apartment on the river. This is a new complex, but (apart from river views) not a great location.

Also, look at the posts and links on this blog.  This website has a list of most city apartment buildings, with useful information and links about them. Also, try this customized search engine.

This is a list by a selling agent about various inner city buildings:
http://www.openhouserealty.com.au/html/residential/21/apartment-buildings

Ad2Pool

Usually, it is relatively easy to determine a value or price range for an apartment in a high rise building.  This is because there are often a number of sales a year, and so if you can find an apartment with a similar floor plan that has sold (e.g., an apartment in the same line), that gives you a good starting point.  Then, you can look at the difference in floor levels, and determine how the value is different.  

Ad2Decktop

Ad2Deck

Admiralty Towers One - 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car, 148 sqm, level 19, sold in March 2009 for $1,200,000

Admiralty Towers Two - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, 106 sqm, level 14 - sold in March 2009 for $725,000

Quay West - 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 car - 75sqm, level 4 - sold in April 2009 for $450,000

Riparian - 2 bed, 2 bath, level 41 - sold at auction for $1,400,000

Grosvenor - 3 bedrooms sold at auction for $1,535,000 on 3 July

http://atowers2.blogspot.com/

The Council has issued a plan for urban renewal in the wharf area under the Story Bridge.  It looks like an excellent plan, and my guess is that it will increase the value of the apartments in the Admiralty precinct.  It is called the Howard Smith Wharves redevelopment.

Details here and here.

Howard smith wharves plan

CITY Hall will drag five times the amount of general rates out of Kelvin Grove Urban Village this financial year.
Information released by Brisbane City Council after a question with notice shows some inner city buildings will collectively pour 400 per cent more in general rates in to the city’s coffers than last year, with Kelvin Grove Urban Village facing the biggest rise.  The Village’s 213 unit owners paid a total $83,411 in general rates to council in the previous financial year, the information shows. But this will jump to $443,750 for the 2008/09 financial year after changes are introduced in January, designed to increase rates for some of the city’s most expensive inner city apartments. The changes, which take effect in January, will lift the general rate for the average unit owner in the Village from $392 last financial year to about $2100 for this financial year. But just a fraction of those living in the Village are owner-occupiers, meaning all but 23 units are owned by investors.
Other addresses to be hard hit by the new ``parity scheme’’ include the Parkland Boulevard building in Brisbane’s CBD, which will collectively pay 364 per cent more in general rates than last year, increasing the building’s total contribution to $753,000. The building contains 168 owner occupied units and 232 investment units.
Council will collect 300 per cent more in general rates for the year from Riverplace Apartments in Brisbane, where 76 of the building’s 314 units are owner occupied.
Owners of units in Admiralty Towers II in Queen Street will fork out 310 per cent more than last financial year.
Riverscape West unit owners in MacDonald St, Kangaroo Point, face an increase of 150 per cent over last financial year.
The information shows just under 1000 owners of units in 116 inner-city apartment blocks will together boost council’s kitty by $6.3 million this financial year under the changes, representing a 127 per cent overall increase for the addresses.
Central ward Councillor David Hinchliffe (Labor) said the changes would take a toll on residents of Kelvin Grove’s Urban Village, which he said was ``not the most salubrious address.’’  Cr Hinchliffe said the impact on unit owners would be about an 800 per cent increase from one quarter’s rates bill to the next.
But council Finance chairman Adrian Schrinner said the information put to rest once and for all claims people were facing 1000 per cent rises in their rates bills.  He reiterated a previous commitment to issue letters to unit owners showing the individual increases they face ahead of the January changes.
See City News
See also Courier Mail
And Brisbane Times

Meriton's Soleil, its first building in Brisbane, launches this weekend.  (Completion of the building is planned for 2011 or 2012.)

It will be 74 levels, and 234 metres high, located at the end of Adelaide Street, behind Skyline and next door to Macrossan (which is under construction).

Floors 31 to 64 contain the apartments that Meriton will sell.  Floors 65 to 74, comprising 42 apartments, are not for sale.  Floors 30 and below will probably be 175 serviced apartments, owned and managed by Meriton.  A total of 188 apartments will go on sale this weekend.  They are 1 to 3 bedroom apartments.  The 2 and 3 bed apartments have 2 bathrooms, and an underground carpark (up to 10 levels below Adelaide Street level).

On the higher floors (above level 41), there are five apartments per floor.  There are 3 elevators for about 220 apartments, which is not a great ratio.  (Admiralty Two, just nearby, has 191 apartments and six elevators.)

None of the apartments have balconies.  Airconditioned, full length windows, and floor to ceiling tiles in the bathroom.  Indoor pool and gym.

6001 Soleil

Here are some example two bed, two bath apartments:

Apartment 6001, level 60, views south down the Brisbane River over the top of Skyline, 79 sqm and 1 car park.  Listed for sale at $823,000, which is about $10,400 a sqm.

Apartment 4205, level 42, limited views between Admiralty Quays and River Place, but good views over All Hallows, 83 sqm and 1 car park.  Listed for sale at $672,000, which is just over $8,000 per sqm.

Apartment 5204, level 52, views over Admiralty Quays, 78 sqm and 1 carpark.  Listed for sale at $688,000, which is just over $8,800 a sqm.

Compare existing, older stock of 2 and 3 bedroom apartments nearby:

• Admiralty Two, Level 4, direct riverfront, 103 sqm (including balconey), listed at $720,000 
• Skyline, Level 27, river views, 102 sqm (including balconey), fully furnished, listed at $720,000
• Admiralty One, Level 18, direct riverfront, 3 bedrooms, 2 carparks, 150 sqm, listed at $880,000.
• Quay West, Level 16, river and park views, 120 sqm, listed at $850,000
• River Place, Level 13, direct riverfront, 116 sqm listed at $675,000 or $675,000

Overall, Soleil is in a great location, the floor plans seem to be well designed, and Meriton will deliver.  Care should be taken when selecting, as some apartments will not have great views due to neighbouring buildings -- but some apartments should have great views (if you like heights!).  The apartments are a little small for my liking, and I am not sure about lack of balconey.