<html><body>
Last month Queensland Premier Campbell Newman <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/developments/new-casino-for-brisbane-cbd-qld-government-announces-eoi-process-for-new-precinct-development/" target="_blank">called</a> for expressions of interest to develop a major integrated resort casino precinct within the Brisbane CBD. The vision is for a new casino surrounded by six star hotels and upmarket retail, restaurant, convention and entertainment facilities.
This will potentially be one of up to three integrated resort casino projects planned for Queensland. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney suggested the developments would provide a significant boost to the state’s economy through the construction and future tourism that would flow.
The initiative comes on the back of plans by NSW for a AU$1.5 billion integrated resort casino project at <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/packer-casino-gets-goahead-to-proceed-to-next-stage-20130704-2pdrv" target="_blank">Barangaroo</a> in Sydney.
This project was awarded to James Packer’s Crown Limited and is to include a 60-storey tower, a six-star hotel and associated facilities. Writing in the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/barangaroos-competitive-tension-a-joke-20130705-2pfus" target="_blank">Sydney Morning Herald</a>, Michael Pascoe described the bidding process for the Barangaroo project as “flawed” and far from best practice stating that:
“Crown successfully manipulated the system from the outset to avoid going to tender against the world’s top casino operators for Sydney’s second ‘VIP gaming facility’ licence.”
Rather than seek an outcome that would represent international best practice in integrated resort casinos, the NSW government has opted for a duopoly that favours local incumbents who influence large sections of the media.
So why the sudden rush into casino projects?
The key factor is the desire to achieve economic benefits. A <a href="https://www.auscasinos.com/pdf/media/CasinosandtheAusEconomy.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> undertaken by the Allen Consulting Group in 2009 for the Australasian Casino Association painted a highly positive view of casinos. According to this report casinos are a major provider of tourism infrastructure and play a key role in the rejuvenation of urban environments.
Casinos are also major employers and they attract over one million international tourists to Australia each year. These same tourists spend around AU$5 billion during their visits. Individually each international casino visitor spends about twice as much as those who don’t visit casinos. In addition to these benefits, casinos provide substantial gaming taxes and licensing revenues to state governments.
A further <a href="https://www.crownresorts.com.au/CrownResorts/files/1d/1db9d9a2-3de5-4072-9a4a-486bb427cf8c.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> was undertaken by the Allen Consulting Group in 2012 into Crown’s proposal for the Barangaroo casino. This pointed to the need for such developments to help salvage the tourism sector.
Over the past 10 years Australia’s tourism sector has suffered due to the high dollar exchange rate. From a peak in 2000 at the time of the Sydney Olympics, Australia’s inbound tourism trade has steadily declined. While the number of Australians travelling overseas grew from 3.6 million to 7.4 million between 2001 and 2011, inbound tourism grew from 5 million to only 5.9 million in the same period.
Competing with Asia’s casino precincts
For many Australian state governments and their local casino operators the role model is Singapore. Two major integrated resort casinos have been developed at Marina Bay adjacent to the city’s CBD, and at Sentosa Island. At a cost of around AU$13 billion, these casinos opened their doors in 2010 and have been experiencing steady growth. Tourism revenues have reportedly grown by around 49% over the past three years. In 2011 tourism was <a href="https://thr.sagepub.com/content/12/3/139.short">contributing</a> US$14.8 billion, or about 4% of Singapore’s GDP.
The Marina Bay Sands resort complex covers 15.5 hectares and has 581,400 square metres of floor space. Only 3% of this is devoted to the casino. There is a 55 storey triple tower luxury hotel surrounded by retail, restaurants, plus convention and entertainment facilities, operated by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
Other major integrated resort casino developments are planned for Macau, Vietnam and the Philippines. All of these will seek to take advantage of the rapidly expanding flow of tourists from China.
According to the Allen Consulting Group the number of outbound Chinese tourists has grown from 10.5 million people in 2000 to 57.4 million in 2010. It is expected to grow to around 100 million and be worth US$838 billion by 2020. However, combine the growth in Chinese tourists travelling to Australia with this heightened interest in casino projects and there may well be some trade-offs to consider.
Casinos demand a holistic approach to integrated tourism
Not surprisingly as a stand-alone concept, casinos attract a fair share of adverse commentary on their social, political and economic impacts. However, there is a growing literature on the economic benefits of casinos to national economies.
Research has <a target="_blank" href="https://thr.sagepub.com/content/12/3/139.short">shown</a> a significant rise in the number of problem gamblers in Singapore since 2010, and police have noticed a sharp rise in crime relating to the presence of the casinos. Amongst these criminal activities are petty theft, cheating and prostitution.
Rosalind Stefanac writing in the <a target="_blank" href="https://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/02/can-casinos-spearhead-economic-development-efforts-in-canadas-cities/">Financial Post Magazine</a> critically poses two questions. First, are the economic benefits from casinos sufficient reason to offset the potential for detrimental social impact? Second, is the casino a viable source of ongoing revenue for a community?
For Australia the economic development potential of integrated resort casino developments is significant. As Deloitte has reported, tourism is one of five “super growth” industries that Australia can potentially develop as part of a “post-resources boom” economy.
However, the success of developments such as Singapore’s casinos is due to the strategic vision that lies behind their design. As “integrated resorts” these casinos must emphasise more than just a venue for gambling.
The purpose of the integrated resort within an economic plan is to advance the economy, generate employment and attract export earnings. This means integrated resorts must have an appeal for hosting many types of tourism and be attractive to a great many gatherings, conventions and exhibitions of a scale that generates ongoing attraction.
According to Andrew McEvoy, Tourism Australia’s Managing Director:
“… for success and long-term sustainability Australian tourism requires more than just effective marketing campaigns. It requires physical investment in tourism infrastructure, particularly hotel stock, as well as improved air links and increases in aviation capacity.”
Infrastructure and planning are critical
For some the inclusion of a casino within the resort complex becomes problematic due to the concerns over problem gambling and crime. However, any major tourism development must involve the building of significant infrastructure and this must be paid for either by the government or industry.
Research has <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&amp;arnumber=4362212" target="_blank">suggested</a> a large scale systems engineering (LSSE) approach was critical to the development of that Singapore’s highly successful integrated resorts.
The focus of a successful tourist destination should be on the word “integrated” in an integrated resort casino. Singapore’s approach to its casino development was strategic and built upon a foundation that sought to deliver a strong economic benefit to the island state’s overall economy. Its vision was to “develop Singapore as a regional tourism hub”.
It is still too early to pass judgment on the nature of the casino developments being planned for Queensland. To date no Australian casino development has reached the same standards as that of Singapore, and none can be truly classified as representing integrated resort models. This is the case for Sydney’s Barangaroo development which does not appear to have been subject to the same level of scrutiny and global competitiveness that took place in Singapore.
Major casino developments of the type proposed for Queensland will attract significant international investment and have the potential to generate substantial returns to the local economy. However, they will also attract many critics and may have socially undesirable impacts if poorly managed.
Get things right and their impact on the economy, tourism and transport sectors and the enhancement of urban environments can be highly positive. Get things wrong and the outcome can be profoundly undesirable. Let’s hope the Queensland government gets it right.
 
<hr>
 Tim Mazzarol is Winthrop Professor, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing and Strategy at <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/" target="_blank">University </a><a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/" target="_blank">of Western Australia</a>
Tim Mazzarol receives funding from the Australian Research Council, CBH Ltd, Capricorn Society, Ravensdown, Co-operatives WA and the WA state government. He is also President of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the advancement of research, education, policy and practice for small to medium enterprises.
 Antoine Musu is DBA Candidate at <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/" target="_blank">University of Western Australia</a>.
This article was originally published at <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>.
 
 
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/19558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" height="1" width="1">
</body></html>

jake-cSmGT7VXVf

Tourism and casinos: Can we gamble our way to prosperity?

<html><body>
A debate about the role and size of the early stage venture capital community was sparked last week by David Gonski’s comments that Australian entrepreneurs are being driven overseas due to a lack of available funds.
Speaking at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce event, the Australian Future Fund and Coca-Cola Amatil chairman declared the diaspora of Australian entrepreneurs heading overseas to find investment a “tragedy”.
“We need an industry that is involved in early-stage investment and I don’t think we can get that when the major pools of money are being judged on 30, 60, 90 or 180 days because these things take much longer,” Gonski said.
However, Venture Advisory executive director, Sydney Angels member, and investor Adrian Bunter told StartupSmart Gonski was incorrect in his assumption there is no adequate pool of funds.
“In some respects he said there were no early stage funds and the only option was to leave Australia in the early stage. But the reality is start-ups don’t need to leave to raise funds and there is a lot of investment activity going on here,” Bunter says.
According to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/growth/growth-strategy/tech-start-ups-could-contribute-109-billion-to-local-economy-by-2033/201304229532">PwC and Google report</a> on the start-up ecosystem released earlier this year, there are over 500 angel investors, 10 angel groups and one sidecar fund, and almost $600 million in management by 20 venture capital groups.
“But there is always more money that can go into the system and he is right that a lot more needs to be done, especially from an institutional investor perspective. Most super funds don’t look at early stage start-ups and are more guided by those shorter couple of month return windows.”
Bunter says encouraging super funds to back start-ups will not be an easy task.
“It is very difficult for institutional groups to invest in start-ups because they’re so large. They’d need to allocate a significant proportion funds to see the returns their shareholders expect.
“Venture capital here really started to grow during the dot.com phase, and towards the peak of it, so venture capital doesn’t have a great track record over the last ten years or so. Therefore the super funds aren’t allocating much money to venture yet.”
Bunter adds the amount of early stage investing in Australia is probably considerably higher than the Google statistics imply, as much of the early stage investment comes from personal networks of family and friends rather than through networks and funds.
“There is a huge amount of investors who are comfortable with that level of risk, so concerns about high-risk investments are not exactly the problem,” Bunter says.
Concerns around the lack of funding at the series A-round level have largely been met, according to Kar-Mei Tang, head of research at national venture capital industry association AVCAL who addressed an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/financing-a-business/australian-venture-capital-growing-and-set-for-a-shake-up-as-the-start-up-sector-matures/2013102411007">event for venture capital investors</a> in Sydney late last month.
“The start-up sector has been an emerging force over the last three years and we’re starting to see more founder investors and super angel activity which will filter through to venture capital,” Tang said.
Alan Jones is an investor and advisor for a range of start-ups including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/growth/growth-strategy/bugherds-alan-downie-graduate-of-first-startmate-intake-shares-his-experience/2013102911041">BugHerd</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/planning/business-planning/scriptrock-founder-discusses-startmate-and-moving-to-san-francisco/2013110111067">ScriptRock</a> and through the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/growth/business-advice-and-education/startmate-accelerator-opens-applications-for-fourth-intake/2013100710877">Startmate accelerator</a> program and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.startupsmart.com.au/financing-a-business/venture-capital/blackbird-ventures-venture-capitalist-rick-baker-tips-for-australian-tech-start-ups-aiming-for-silicon-valley/2013102911037">Blackbird Venture Capital</a> portfolio.
He told StartupSmart investing in start-ups would become increasingly popular as people seek investment options not shackled to commodity prices but instead driven by smart people tapping into new trends.
“People who are considering investing in start-ups often say it’s risky. But for those of us who are already doing it, we know we’re investing in people, technology and innovation. To me, that seems like a much safer investment than some of the other sectors where Australians invest such as mining, agriculture and aquaculture,” Jones says.
Jones says the tendency of Australian investors to pour money into industries vulnerable to fluctuating commodity prices needs to evolve.
“As no one in Australia has any influence on the future of commodity prices, it’s all speculation,” Jones says. “Sure, we have different challenges about gaining capital and getting permission to shoot for the moon, but usually when you start-up here, you’re servicing a global market and there are lots of options.”
While there is significant risk involved in investing in early stage companies, Jones says the early stage start-up investment community in Australia is growing as investors gravitate towards more personal connections with their investee companies.
“I’d rather back someone with a great technological idea, because the risks there are much more about picking the sentiment of customers correctly. The biggest thing about the tech start-up industry is there is no such as thing as a unique idea, so you need to find and back the team that will be the best at executing on their plans,” Jones says.

<hr>
This article first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.startupsmart.com.au/">StartupSmart</a>.
 
 
</body></html>

Australian early stage investment is alive and growing, experts say

<html><body>
The NSW Court of Appeal has opened the door for owners corporations for commercial buildings to bring claims of negligence for pure economic loss against builders - an action previously thought to be limited to subsequent purchasers of residential buildings.
Since the mid-1990s, the High Court has recognised the existence of a duty of care owed by a builder to a subsequent purchaser of residential premises for recovery of pure economic loss. It later refused, however, to extend this duty of care to a purchaser of a warehouse office building (Woolcock Street Investments Pty Ltd v CDG Pty Ltd (2004) 216 CLR 515).
Last month, the NSW Court of Appeal, in The Owners – Strata Plan No. 61288 v Brookfield Australia Investments Ltd [2013] NSWCA 317, found that the differences between the purchasers of residential and commercial properties are not as great as we might previously have thought. The key consideration for the court when establishing whether a builder owes a duty to a subsequent purchaser in respect of pure economic loss is the extent to which the purchaser is vulnerable.
The Owners - Strata Plan No. 61288 v Brookfield case concerned the construction of a mixed-use retail, restaurant, residential and serviced apartments building in Chatswood, NSW, in 1999.
The owners' corporation for the serviced apartments, which came into existence after completion of the building work on registration of the strata plan for the serviced apartments, discovered certain defects in the common property and, in November 2008, brought proceedings against the builder in negligence for pure economic loss.
The Court affirmed the importance of vulnerability of the plaintiff as a key factor in controlling the potentially expansive area of legal liability.  The vulnerability of the purchaser was a key factor in identifying the scope of the builder's duty of care to that purchaser.  Vulnerability refers to the purchaser's inability to protect itself from the consequences of the builder's failure to use reasonable care; whether than be in a physical sense (controlling the physical events that gave rise to the loss) or a legal sense (negotiating a contractual arrangement imposing liability on the builder).
The owners' corporation was found to be vulnerable in that the defects were latent and could not have been discovered by a purchaser exercising reasonable care; and there was no submission that the owners' corporation could in some way have protected itself by contract so as to impose liability on the builder.
While this case appears to expand the scope of a builder's liability to subsequent purchasers of buildings, the Court commented that this case does not in fact represent a radical change in the law, but is merely the application of existing principles to a novel set of facts.
 
<hr>
 Philip Dawson is a partner at <a href="https://www.claytonutz.com/?" target="_blank">Clayton Utz</a>.
 
 
 
</body></html>

Court ruling allows commercial property owners corporations to bring negligence claims against builders

<html><body>
Overall levels of home ownership are on a gradual decline in Australia, but the declines are sharp among younger households and people on low incomes. Generous government tax breaks for property investors are contributing to this decline in home ownership and an increasingly unequal housing market. Investors benefit from a 50% discount on capital gains tax (at a cost to the government’s budget of $4.4 billion per year) and negative gearing (costing $2.4 billion a year). Grattan Institute’s latest report, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/renovating-housing-policy/" target="_blank">Renovating housing policy</a>, finds that these tax breaks not only fail to produce new housing, they are leading investors to bid up the prices of existing housing because of the tax benefits on offer. More first home buyers are locked out of the market as a result.
Grattan’s report proposes that the Commonwealth gradually ease these tax breaks, in conjunction with steps that stimulate new housing supply. These changes, outlined in the 2011 Grattan reports <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/the-housing-we-d-choose/" target="_blank">The housing we’d choose</a> and <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/getting-the-housing-we-want/" target="_blank">Getting the housing we want</a>, include reforming state and local planning systems so residents, developers, governments and local councils can achieve a long-term, negotiated approach to development.
But Grattan’s reform proposals to produce more housing and bring home ownership within the grasp of more Australians prompted a spirited defence of the status quo last week. An article by Nicola Trotman – “<a href="/news">Should negative gearing be abolished?</a>”, published in Crikey and Property Observer – quotes real estate industry players whose views are in part based on two myths.
Peter Bushby from the Real Estate Institute of Australia claims that tax concessions for investors help provide rental accommodation. But only 5% of money loaned for investment in housing in Australia goes toward building new housing. 95% goes to bidding up the price of existing housing. If new houses aren’t getting built, then one more taxpayer-subsidised investment property means one less owner-occupied home.
Historically low rental vacancy rates also show there is a shortage of rental properties, according to, among others, the Reserve Bank. And rents have gone up much more quickly than average wages over the last decade. If a discounted rate of capital gains tax and negative gearing are supposed to be getting new housing built, they’re doing a terrible job.
Both Bushby and Terry Ryder, of hotspotting.com.au, also state that restricting negative gearing in the mid-1980s caused the rental housing market to stall. Not true. In the two years from September 1985 in which negative gearing was restricted, lending for housing investment increased by 42%. Only two cities – Sydney and Perth – experienced increased growth in rents over this period, despite restrictions on negative gearing applying nationwide. And Sydney and Perth had been experiencing unusually low vacancy rates prior to the policy change. Growth in rents actually slowed in Melbourne, and other capital cities were stable.
Reform of tax concessions for property investors such as discounted capital gains tax and negative gearing won’t – and shouldn’t – happen overnight. But it’s important to be clear and honest about the consequences of these policies.
For most of the 1980s, a home buyer needed to save around a full year’s average income as a deposit for median priced housing. Now the corresponding deposit is roughly four times average annual income. Home ownership is heading out of reach for increasing numbers of Australians, and as Grattan’s report shows, tax breaks for property investors have contributed to the problem.
 
<hr>
 Jane-Frances Kelly is cities program director for the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>.
 
Paul Donegan is senior associate, cities for the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/" target="_blank">Grattan Institute</a>. 
 
 
</body></html>

Generous investor tax breaks contributing to unequal housing market

<html><body>
Much was made of the September building approvals data yesterday <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8731.0?OpenDocument" target="_blank">from the Australian Bureau of Statistics</a>, and with a 14.4% surge in approvals for new homes (seasonally adjusted), they certainly appear to remove any doubts that the home building sector has turned and has been accelerating (remembering this is historical data).
That’s critically important to the transition of the economy from the mining investment boom to a more traditional, housing-driven growth pattern sought by the RBA.
But there are a couple of points that need making. Much of the increase came from an 31.8% jump in new home units, townhouses and apartments, which is a very volatile part of the series. The same month in 2012 produced a big increase, with a 7.8% jump in total approvals, including an 18% rise in new home units and apartments. In July of this year, there was a 24.4% surge in new units, apartments and townhouse approvals and an overall rise of 10.8%. But in June there was a sharp fall of 12.6%, with approvals in home units, etc, down 37% for the year to June (the 2012-13 financial year).
This series depends heavily on approvals by local councils and tends to appear in the ABS data in bunches?—?as the above numbers indicate, it’s either feast or famine, and for that reason, the overall series is difficult to analyse. Even the trend series, which tends to smooth out the month-to-month changes, can be left behind by the big surges and falls in approvals in this area.
On trend, the September rise was 2.5% for all approvals (not 14.4%) and the year-to-date rise was 15.1%, not 18.6%. For the volatile apartments, etc, group, the trend increase in September was 5.6% for approvals against 31.8% for the seasonally adjusted figures. The year-to-date increase was 20.9% for the trend series against 31.9% for the seasonally adjusted.
The second point to be made is that the action is still in existing homes, not new home building, despite the latter hitting a three-year high in September, according to the Housing Industry Association. It’s the surging price of existing homes in Sydney that is catching the eye at the moment as competition between different groups of investors and private buyers are running into each other.
That’s why Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens specifically mentioned Sydney as the hotbed of investor competition in <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2013/sp-gov-291013" target="_blank">remarks made in Sydney on Tuesday</a>:
<blockquote>
“Investor participation in housing in Sydney, in particular, is becoming noticeably stronger. Over the past year, the rate of finance approvals for this purpose has increased by 40%.”
</blockquote>
When Stevens singles out one particular market, it’s a good idea to pay attention.
ABS figures show investors now account for 53.2% of all loans in New South Wales. In August, they borrowed more than $3.7 billion to invest in property. And the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/frequency/fin-agg/2013/fin-agg-0913" target="_blank">RBA’s credit data for September</a>, released yesterday, also confirmed the sharp growth in investor lending. According to the bank, investor lending for households grew 0.6% in September for a fourth successive month. That an annual rate of 7.2%, or twice the overall rate of growth in private lending and 50% faster than the 4.8% annual growth rate in all home lending the year to September. That helped total lending grow slightly faster than the 4.2% rate in loans to owner-occupiers in the year to September.
Data today from RP Data-Rismark showed a 1.3% rise in house prices last month in eight capital cities. Prices were up 7.9% for the year to October?—?but Sydney house prices jumped 2.4% in October, according to the survey. Prices rose 1.2% in Melbourne and 1.4% in Brisbane. But they fell 2.3% in Hobart reflecting some of the highest unemployment in the country in some areas). Prices in Perth dipped 0.2% in October and the annual growth rate fell to 9.4%. But in a separate survey yesterday, RP Data pointed out that adjusted for inflation, house prices still had a way to go. And compared to the stockmarket, property prices are still well behind. The ASX 200, the main index, was up 17% in the 20 months to October 31, and more than 20% in the past year.
And there are anecdotal stories of strong investor demand from offshore. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/10/29/tips-and-rumours-996/">Crikey reported a tip</a> earlier in the week of a house that sold for $1.5 million above the reserve price (it went for $5 million) thanks to a bid from an offshore investor. It is easier for foreigners investing $5 million or more in Australia to secure an Australian visa. On top of this, there are also stories that Meriton, the country’s biggest apartment builder, is receiving strong demand from offshore (mostly China) for home units off the plan.
This is the sort of detail, by the way, that gets ignored in one of our favourite sub-genres in local financial reporting?—?the slavish reporting of views on<a href="https://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/central_banks_in_denial_about_asset_n251DLS54X6OedKno7G6wK" target="_blank">the Australian property market by foreign analysts</a> who assume that whatever applies in the UK or the US automatically applies here and therefore Australia?—?in its entirety?—?must have a property bubble.
In fact, the RBA is focused on how low interest rates are driving new home construction (its intended policy goal, along with hopefully driving the Aussie dollar down) versus driving higher prices for existing stock, and in Sydney in particular, which is the country’s biggest market but also one where the previous state Labor government oversaw a collapse in residential building. Talk about bubbles misses the point that the central bank is trying to engineer a transition from an investment boom back to Australia’s normal housing-led growth.
It’s a very different policy challenge to one facing banks in the UK, Europe and the US, where the problem is to create and sustain any growth at all.
 
<hr>
 This article first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.crikey.com.au">Crikey</a>.
 
</body></html>

Keep property in context: Market is in transition, not in a bubble

<html><body>
High expectations were placed on a bumper spring this season, with experts predicting our biggest property sales period in years. With record low interest rates and the election finally decided, talks of improved consumer confidence reached new heights.
It’s a little different for us down here in the Peninsula – unlike the rest of Melbourne our peak selling period is over the summer months. Don’t get me wrong, spring is still a busy period for us but I’d say we’re more in ‘ramp-up’ mode for the holiday season when our real estate frenzy really hits.
<img height="264" width="470" src="/images/stories/2013/11/01/peninsula-nov-1-breakout.jpg" alt="peninsula-nov-1-breakout">
Photo courtesy of Kevin Yank/flickr.
For the last 11 years, I’ve had my vendors tell me from as early as August that they’re happy to go on the market in spring; it was no different this year. Come the first day of September, we were away and racing.
One of the most interesting trends we’ve noticed this season is the rise of the auction. For holiday home markets like Rosebud, Dromana and Safety Beach where private sales have traditionally dominated, this spring we’re seeing a 70:30 split between auctions and private sales in favour of auctions. We have already conducted 10 auctions this spring alone - five years ago I’d be lucky if I had three auctions for the entire year. The hype around auctions in the broader Melbourne market has definitely started to trickle down to our area, with sellers beginning to see value in this sale method.
There’s also been a noticeable change in sentiment since the change in government – we found a lot of our vendors were fearful to sell before the election. September this year was a huge month for us with our sales nearly double the same time last year. We’ve also had really strong results this month with these properties in <a href="https://www.hockingstuart.com.au/?pagecall=property&amp;propertyID=2462208">Dromana</a> and <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-rosebud-114620287">Rosebud</a> selling before auction and we’re expecting the same to happen to a four-bedroom home we have <a href="https://www.hockingstuart.com.au/3_PHILLIP_STREET_ROSEBUD_VIC_3939">in Phillip St Rosebud</a>.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/10/31/rose]}
We’ve also just listed a unique acreage – <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hockingstuart.com.au/60_OLD_WHITE_HILL_ROAD_DROMANA_VIC_3936">60 Old White Hill Road Dromana</a> – that will draw a lot of interest from retirees and holidaymakers.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/11/01/dro]}
Looking at buyer demand, the interest rate cuts have definitely made a difference but we’ve actually found the completion of the Peninsula Link in January to be the biggest driver for our market this year. People can now get to the Peninsula from the city in under an hour – before the freeway was open, you’d be looking at an average travel time of one and half to two hours depending on traffic. Our days on market have halved from an average of 120 days a year or two ago, to 60 days this year.
The other unique trend we’ve seen this spring has been in the rental market (which has shown particularly strong demand, we had more than 60 enquiries for a three-bedroom home we recently put on the rental market in <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-safety+beach-411547723">Safety Beach</a>). We’ve had a few instances where people have chosen to lease a holiday home for the entire year after weighing up the benefits of outlaying $400-$500 a week rent for a year against mortgage repayments for 30 years. We’re finding that professionals in the 40-50 age bracket with disposable income are considering different ways to invest their money.
We’re definitely expecting stock levels and buyer demand to remain high moving into summer, with our activity really ramping up in January – I’m predicting a nominal increase in our sale prices and another interest rate cut before Christmas. But predicting interest rates is like predicting real estate; everyone thinks they know what’s going to happen when the truth is, no one actually knows what’s around the corner. All I know is if our results so far are anything to go by, I can guarantee it’s going to be a hot summer.
 
<hr>
Adam Alexander has 10 years experience in real estate on the Mornington Peninsula and is director of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hockingstuart.com.au/?pagecall=misc&amp;pagemode=suburb&amp;contentID=106595">hockingstuart Rosebud.</a>
 
 
 
</body></html>

The auctions are going to be a hot this summer: Mornington Peninsula state of the market

<html><body>
Yarraville has been Melbourne’s best kept secret. Ten years ago, the median house price was just $316,000 and there was nothing more than a historic cinema and a milk bar. Fast forward to 2013 and the area is now bustling with shops, cafés and the Maribyrnong council has commenced work to improve traffic and roads in the area as part of the Yarraville Urban Design Framework.
Our median house price has now grown to $739,000 but is still viewed as one of the most affordable pockets within a 10 kilometre radius of Melbourne’s CBD when compared to the likes of Prahran, Richmond and Fitzroy which report median house prices of $837,500, $985,000 and $1,290,000 respectively.
<img alt="yarraville-oct-31-breakout" height="264" width="470" src="/images/stories/2013/10/31/yarraville-oct-31-breakout.jpg">
Photo: Sunset in Yarraville, courtesy Anthony W/flickr
It’s common knowledge the market hasn’t exactly been cracking hot the past couple of years, but things have definitely started to take a turn for the better this spring. We’ve seen an increase from one to two buyers per property earlier this year to three to four these past six weeks. Our office has recorded an average clearance rate of 90% compared to 70% last year, while days on market have decreased from 26 days last spring to 22 days currently. Our stock levels this spring have also nearly doubled, with only 40 properties on our books at the same time last year compared to the 76 homes we now have listed. Our increased activity is consistent with reports across broader Melbourne that a “spring boom” is erupting, with median house prices increasing by 14.9% since last spring.
There’s no doubt the market has been driven by record low interest rates and the federal election finally over – across the state agents have been reporting increased levels of activity in their local markets. For us, we also found a lot of people were gearing up to put their property on the market after the AFL Grand Final, with that and the election the trigger points for our spring selling season.
So where is all this extra interest coming from? Traditionally Yarraville has attracted young families and couples to the area, namely for the high supply of affordable, spacious period homes. However, one of the biggest trends we’ve seen this spring is a large influx of investors. It’s very unusual for us to see investors running neck and neck with first home buyers in our area but it’s evident they’re taking advantage of low interest rates.
For example, we recently sold a two-bedroom period home at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.onthehouse.com.au/reports/property_profile/5800756/71_Eirene_Street_YARRAVILLE_VIC_3013/">71 Eirene St</a> (pictured below) $96,000 above reserve due to investor bidding driving up the sale price. We’re also expecting high levels of investor interest at an upcoming auction in 74 Francis St Yarraville on the 30th November.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2013/10/31/yarra]}
So what’s in store for the rest of the year? Where interest rates are going is obviously the million dollar question – history tells us they can't remain at this level, so my bet is that they will start to increase in the first half of next year.
As for the Yarraville market, we’re definitely expecting to see investors and first home buyers continue to battle it out. Luckily for them there’s currently plenty of high quality stock so they’re spoilt for choice. But as per basic economic law of supply and demand, if the number of homes on the market continue rising at this level from eager sellers wanting to cash in on the ‘boom’, it will put buyers back in the driver’s seat. We’re awhile away from that yet – right now, it’s an even playing field but it won’t stay that way for long.

<hr>
Leo Dardha has 10 years experience in real estate and is director of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hockingstuart.com.au/?pagecall=misc&amp;pagemode=agency&amp;agentID=3666">hockingstuart Yarraville</a>.
 
 
</body></html>

First home buyers battling it out with investors: Yarraville state of the market

<html><body>
Construction activity is not expected to recover to mining-boom levels and is due for anaemic growth – or real-terms decline – over the next two financial years, according to the Australian Industry Group’s latest construction outlook survey.
Engineering and commercial construction will come crashing down from its mining-fuelled 10.6% growth spurt in 2012/13 to grow 2% this year and 1% next year.
“This reflects weaker conditions across a range of infrastructure categories and resource-based heavy industrial sectors. However, telecommunications work is forecast to remain robust in line with the NBN roll-out and related investment. Levels of construction activity are also expected to hold up reasonably well in the oil and gas sector (despite a slower growth outlook) while civil projects (such as terminals and ports) are expected to still generate solid work in 2013/14 before weakening the following year,” the survey reported.
In 2014/15 commercial construction is due to recover to above-CPI growth of 4.4%.

<hr>
This article first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au">SmartCompany</a>.
 
</body></html>

Anaemic growth predicted for construction sector over next two financial years

<html><body>
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens has today made clear the dollar is more likely to fall than rise, given the current economic conditions.
Speaking at an investment conference this morning Stevens said the current high Australian dollar is not supported by “levels of cost and productivity”.
“Moreover, the terms of trade are likely to fall, not rise, from here. So it seems quite likely that at some point in the future the Australian dollar will be materially lower than it is today,” he says.
He says US stimulus tapering “would lessen some of the difficulties we face in our own policy choices”.
Stevens also downplayed the fears of a house price bubble.
“Some rising in house prices is part of the normal cyclical dynamic, that it improves the incentive to build, and that a price rise reversing an earlier decline probably isn’t something to complain about too quickly,” he says.
“It has been a little too early to signal great concern.”
 
<hr>
 This article first appeared on <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au" target="_blank">SmartCompany</a>.
 
</body></html>

Dollar likely to be “materially lower”, RBA governor Glenn Stevens says

<html><body>
Building a new house is a big undertaking and there’s a good chance there’ll be a few stressful moments during the process.
Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to minimise the problems. Load up your toolkit with some of these stress avoidance and management techniques, and keep your sanity along the way!
1. Have a clear idea about what you want to achieve from the outset
One of the best ways to avoid stress during a new build is by starting off with a comprehensive plan of what you want to achieve. There’ll always be issues you can’t account for, but making changes creates cranky builders and costs more in time and money. Spend some extra effort going over your plans before you start and you’ll save yourself unnecessary hassle down the line.
2. Back yourself
Once you’ve decided what you want, make sure you communicate your ideas firmly. You’ll probably come across a few tradespeople who do a bit of eye rolling when you tell them what you want, but it’s your build and it’s not necessary to justify your choices. There will be times, of course, when you need to weigh up the advice of professionals, but try to remember your goals and listen to your intuition. Hasty last minute changes can lead to substantial regret.
3. Make sure you understand everything
Misunderstandings can lead to a wide range of unnecessary complications, so make sure you ask lots of questions. If you’re not on a building site every day, there’s no way you can be expected to understand all the ins and outs of putting up a new home. Good tradespeople take the time to explain things thoroughly, without making you feel foolish and insecure.
4. Have realistic expectations 
Make sure you understand the costs and timing, and remember to expect the unexpected. Building is a multi-faceted process with lots of small steps, and sometimes things go wrong. Factor in a 10-20% budget contingency and add an extra six months to your build calendar so you won’t be overly stressed if the budget starts to creep or the building schedule hits a few snags.
5. Try to keep your emotions in check
This is probably one of the hardest things to do, especially if you’re building a home for your family. You want it to be right, and that’s understandable, but taking a step back and disconnecting your emotions a little can help you see more clearly. Building a new home should lead to happiness, not a heart attack, so if you find yourself getting angry or upset, take a deep breath and use your head instead. Solutions will be a lot easier to find.
6. Get Involved
Keeping an eye on things is important, especially if you don’t have a project manager or architect. If you spot any issues you can nip them in the bud before they get out of hand. Visit your site as often as possible and if you notice anything unusual, make sure you bring it up immediately. Don’t assume that it’s all under control, or that everyone knows the plan.
7. Maintain communication with your neighbours
No-one likes a raft of building trucks parked outside their home every day without an explanation or apology. Make an effort to let the neighbours know what’s happening, and offer them your mobile number if they want to discuss any issues.
Taking time to listen is often all it takes to keep the neighbours onside. Put yourself in their shoes, and offer some genuine understanding. Failing that, move on to some good old-fashioned bribery – a nice bottle of wine and a couple of movie tickets usually does the trick!
8. Spend some time on activities that don’t involve the build
The building process can be long and arduous so make sure you take some time out to clear your head. Unless there’s a bunch of urgent “do or die” issues sitting on your desk, factor in a couple of nights away or an afternoon on one of your hobbies. It will help reduce any pent up stress and re-ignite your enthusiasm for your project.
9.  See the stars
When it all gets too much, go outside at night and look up at the sky. Nothing puts it all in perspective like a couple of awe inspiring moments thinking about the size of universe. OK, so the builder ordered the wrong materials. Most things can be fixed, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that bad.
Building a new home should be a positive experience, not one that leaves you feeling frazzled and disappointed. Although it’s nearly impossible to remove all the stress from the process, having realistic expectations, a comprehensive idea about want you want to achieve, good communication, and a time-out plan means you’re more likely to enjoy the experience.
And who knows… you might even want to do it all over again!

<hr>
Sam Crothers is the founder of <a href="https://www.houseplanology.com" target="_blank">www.houseplanology.com</a>, a home website that includes design and building resources, interviews with architects and designers, and a house plan directory. 
You can contact Sam at <a href="mailto:sam@houseplanology.com." target="_blank">sam@houseplanology.com.</a>
 
</body></html>

Nine tips for maintaining your sanity while building a house: Sam Crothers

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/consolidated-properties">Consolidated Properties Group</a> (CPG) is approaching the launch of its latest Brisbane riverfront development, Castile, on the dress circle Skyring Terrace in Newstead.

VIP buyers are now being engaged, with a full public sales launch coming later this year.

Positioned as the final opportunity to secure a new absolute riverfront residence on the East bank of Newstead, Teneriffe or New Farm, Castile at 47 Skyring Terrace has been designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/woods-bagot">Woods Bagot</a> as a timeless addition to the Brisbane skyline.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150489 project_image_fid=371113]

The name Castile draws on themes of permanence, sophistication and legacy, reflecting a broader vision centred on enduring architecture and timelessness in the rarest of riverfront positions.&nbsp;

CPG Chairman and CEO Don O’Rorke said the project had been envisioned as a future Brisbane icon.&nbsp;

“With 47 metres of direct river frontage and never to be built out views, 47 Skyring Terrace is the definitive address on the Brisbane River,” O’Rorke said.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=150489 project_image_fid=371114]

“Rather than following trend-based apartment design, Castile draws inspiration from Brisbane’s great heritage buildings, reinterpreting classical architecture into a contemporary riverfront landmark designed to stand proudly for the next 100 years,” he said.&nbsp;

The approved development will comprise 227 apartments across a 25-storey tower alongside a boutique six-storey riverfront building of just 12 residences.&nbsp;

Construction is scheduled to commence in September 2026.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=150489]

Joel Robinson

CPG unveils Castile Newstead ahead of upcoming sales launch

Australia’s online shopping habits have shifted dramatically over the last decade. As eCommerce volumes surged, so too did the frustrations that came with traditional parcel delivery: missed deliveries, long Post Office queues, parcel theft and the challenge of being home during business hours.

Australia Post’s Parcel Lockers emerged as one of the more practical responses to that changing consumer behaviour.

What started as a relatively niche delivery option has evolved into a nationwide network of more than 1,400 self-service Parcel Lockers positioned at train stations, shopping centres, supermarkets and Post Offices across the country. The system allows Australians to send, collect and return parcels 24 hours a day, fundamentally changing how many people interact with deliveries.

The appeal is relatively straightforward: flexibility.

Instead of waiting at home for a delivery driver or rushing to a Post Office before closing time, users can direct eligible parcels to a Parcel Locker location of their choice. Once the parcel arrives, Australia Post sends a notification with a collection code or QR access through the AusPost app, allowing customers to retrieve their package at any time within the collection window.

For apartment residents in particular, the system has become increasingly valuable.

Higher-density living has created logistical challenges around deliveries, especially in buildings without concierge services or secure parcel rooms. Missed deliveries are common, while parcel theft has become an increasing concern as online shopping volumes continue to rise.

Australia Post itself has repeatedly highlighted the growing issue of “porch pirates” during peak shopping periods, encouraging customers to use Parcel Lockers as a safer alternative to unattended home deliveries.

That security aspect is one of the key reasons the Australia Post Parcel Locker network has grown so rapidly.

Parcel Lockers are positioned as secure, monitored collection points that reduce the risk of theft while also improving delivery efficiency for Australia Post. Instead of multiple redelivery attempts, parcels can be consolidated into a single secure destination.

The Parcel Lockers themselves are free to use through a MyPost account and support a range of parcel sizes up to 16 kilograms and dimensions of approximately 35 x 44 x 61 centimetres.

Beyond receiving parcels, the system has increasingly become integrated into the broader eCommerce ecosystem.

Customers can now use Parcel Lockers to return online purchases, while retailers have embraced the model as a way to improve delivery success rates and reduce friction in the shopping process. Australia Post has actively expanded partnerships with major retailers and promoted Parcel Lockers as part of a broader out-of-home strategy.

The timing of that expansion aligns with broader changes in Australian shopping behaviour.

The acceleration of online retail during and after the pandemic placed enormous pressure on delivery infrastructure. Parcel volumes reached record highs, particularly during Black Friday and Christmas periods, with Australia Post delivering more than 100 million parcels during peak festive seasons.

That growth forced logistics providers to rethink the “last mile” of delivery, widely regarded as the most expensive and operationally difficult stage of the process.

Parcel Locker systems have increasingly been viewed as part of the long-term solution.

The concept itself is not unique to Australia. Parcel Locker networks have become common globally, particularly across Europe and Asia, where dense urban environments and apartment living create similar logistical challenges. But Australia’s geography and suburban sprawl made adoption slower initially.

Now, however, the convenience factor is driving mainstream usage.

For commuters, Parcel Lockers near train stations allow parcels to be collected on the way home from work. For apartment dwellers, they remove the uncertainty around access and missed deliveries.

The rise of the AusPost app has also streamlined the experience, centralising notifications, tracking and Parcel Locker access into a single platform. Australia Post has increasingly pushed customers toward app-based delivery management, partly as a way to combat phishing scams and fake delivery notifications, which have become more sophisticated in recent years.

The Parcel Locker model is also beginning to influence property development itself.

Parcel management has become a growing consideration in apartment building design, particularly as online shopping becomes embedded in everyday life. Many new residential developments are now incorporating dedicated parcel rooms or Parcel Locker systems into foyers and communal spaces.

For developers, parcel management is increasingly viewed as part of the broader resident amenity offering, alongside gyms, wellness spaces and communal work areas.

That reflects a wider evolution in how residential buildings are designed.

Apartment buyers are placing greater emphasis on convenience, security and operational functionality, particularly in higher-density urban environments. Parcel delivery, once considered a minor operational detail, has become an increasingly important part of that equation.

Australia Post’s Parcel Locker network sits at the centre of that behavioural shift.

What began as a simple alternative delivery option has evolved into a key piece of infrastructure supporting Australia’s growing eCommerce economy and changing urban lifestyles.

And as online shopping continues to expand, the role of Parcel Lockers is likely to become even more embedded in how Australians live, shop and receive goods.

How Australia Post Parcel Lockers changed parcel delivery convenience in Australia

Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Jacob Robinson

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News