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Buildings in Melbourne will fling their doors open to the public in the fifth annual Open House Melbourne event.
This year 100 buildings with otherwise restrictive access will be open for public tours over July 28 and 29.
Open buildings include underground substations, council buildings, office buildings, architectural curiosities, university and hospital research labs, churches, museums, theatres and other places of historical, architectural, technological or sustainable interest.
Spokesperson Robert Larocca says some highlights this year include Gate Lodge at the Melbourne General Cemetery, the Port of Melbourne Boat Tours and the Portable Iron Houses.
“Many Melburnians are familiar with the Gate Lodge at the Melbourne General Cemetery but have never had the chance to go inside. The Lodge is classified by the National Trust and will be open on both days,” Larocca says.
“For the first time Open House features a tour of a working port. On the free tour visitors will learn how the Coode Canal, built in 1886, opened up the port and see the Victoria Dock, which was constructed in 1892. While not part of this tour, Princes Pier is also part of the program.”
“The three portable iron houses in South Melbourne are a unique remnant of a former time when innovative ways had to be found to house the new city’s population,” says Larocca. “First built in around 1850 the portable houses enabled the colony to provide good quality housing entirely sourced overseas.” Larocca says over five years Open House Melbourne has become a major winter event in the city, with last year’s event attracting 106,000 visits to 75 buildings. One highly anticipated location this year is the supposedly haunted St Kilda Esplanade Vaults, originally built in 1891 as arch supports for raised tram tracks.
Larocca says the most popular buildings from 2011 are back and new additions include the new Royal Children's Hospital, the Hamer Hall redevelopment and a host of residential buildings.
<cite><a href="https://www.openhousemelbourne.org.">For more information visit the Open House Melbourne website</a>. </cite><cite></cite>
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Open House Melbourne will see buildings citywide fling open their doors

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{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2012/07//julylittlebay]}
Sydney auction vendors had their best Saturday result for two years, as limited supply and good demand boosted the clearance rate to 63.6%.
There were sales totalling $99 million, according to Australian Property Monitors.
It represented a jump on the 56.6% of the prior weekend and the 62.9% of the same weekend last year.
The top Sydney sale was an incomplete $2.5 million four-bedroom Little Bay house that sold through Mint 360 Property agent David Gray.
There were four bidders after 12 contracts were issued. The top bidder increased their offer to secure the offering.
It was estimated at least $600,000 needed to be spent having been unfinished for over two years ago. 
It was a mortgagee in possession sale, the then 525 sqm  building block having last sold in 2006 at $2,325,000. Neighbouring blocks of 625 sq m had fetched as high as $3 million.  
The virtual beachfront reserve house was in the Landcom developed estate within the master-planned coastal enclave Prince Henry development site.
It had been listed in October last year with hopes of reaching $3.2 million.
It was described then as an "unfinished masterpiece at $2 million below cost" when marketed through Michael Caspers of Geoff Speers Ltd.
Sydney’s median house price on the weekend was $817,500 and $592,250 for units.
Melbourne’s median house price was $634,000 and $451,500 for units, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.
Melbourne agents secured a clearance rate of 62% from its 360 weekend listings compared to 59% on the prior weekend and 57% on the same weekend last year, according to the REIV.
“The auction market has clearly returned to trend with the past fortnight's results being in line with the year-to-date clearance rate,” said the REIV chief Enzo Raimondo.
Brighton recorded the weekend's dearest sale which was $2.75 million. It was a newly built two-storey house designed by architect Jon Friedrich with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. It came with a cinema, a 500-bottle wine-tasting room and a gymnasium and pool. It was sold by Nick Johnstone Real Estate.
Next weekend the REIV expects around 500 auctions.
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Little Bay mortgagee sale headlines Sydney's best weekend auction rate for two years

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The prominent US real estate broker Ralph Roberts, named by Time magazine as the “best-selling realtor in America” in 1999, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The personal and business Chapter 11 filings were made after a lawsuit filed against him last year by a group of investors, his bankruptcy lawyer told the local paper, The Macomb Daily.
“There were attempted settlements. They did not work out,” attorney Hannah McCollum said. Members of the group sued him in February 2011 to recover their investment in his real estate investments.
Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit show he has assets of $1.8 million and liabilities of $73.2 million. However, his attorney explained that $6.5 million listed next to each of the 11 people with the largest claims — including his mother — is the total amount the group claims it is owed.
“We think it’s much less than that,” McCollum said.
Roberts, of Clinton Township, sold his first home aged 18, some 37 years ago.
Selling 600 homes a year at a $US115,000 average price earned him Time magazine’s title of top realtor in the country in 1999.
He co-authored nine books on real estate sales and investing, including Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman, 1997, Flipping Houses for Dummies, 2006 and Foreclosure Investing for Dummies, 2007.
In 1999, when spruiked as the highest-selling realtor in America, Roberts spoke in Sydney at the Real '99 conference to advise local agents on the art of the deal.
He’d recently sold a house to Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers, the controversial rapper, who’d bought a $US450,000 Detroit residence.
Roberts estimated that probably 80% of agents, at any one time, are in a sales slump.
In 2004, a quote from the website of his former company, Ralph Roberts Real Estate, said, “Ralph Roberts is to residential real estate what Babe Ruth was to baseball; what Johnny Carson was to late night television; and what McDonald’s has been to the fast food industry — except Ralph is better.”
After running into some difficulties in 2007, Ralph Roberts Real Estate re-incorporated as Ralph Roberts Realty LLC with a business model attracting investors and flipping homes, with no lines of credit, charging a “finder’s fee” and then splitting the profits when homes were re-sold.
Then the toxic mortgage housing market crashed.
“He (was) building himself up from the bottom, in a market you can’t sell in. Investors immediately said he defaulted,” McCollum told The Macomb Daily. 
Roberts also lost it all in the sky-high interest rates in the late 1970s, when he lost his own Detroit house to foreclosure.
"But through lean years and good years I've tried to see troubles as opportunities, not just as problems,” he told his 1999 Australian audience.
Roberts presumably still sees himself as a master of transforming crises into opportunities.
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Ralph Roberts, named realtor of the year in 1999, files for bankruptcy protection

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<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg">
<a href="https://grantdenyer.com.au/gallery/70/Photo_Gallery?start=210">Grant Denyer, the Sunrise Channel 7 weatherman</a>, has spent $1.95 million on his new Sutherland Shire abode. It’s a four bedroom 1980s home at Grays Point. It marks a return to shire property ownership for the celebrity as Denyer, and his then partner Belinda Morters ,were early victims of the GFC property downturn when their Jannali house, bought for $557,000 in 2003 sold in 2008 for $500,000. Not sure where Grant, his wife, Cheryl and their one-year-old baby daughter, Sailor were on the 2011 Census night, but there were 75,000 occupied dwellings plus 5,000 unoccupied in the shire. As the local paper recently noted in the shire, families typically have 1.9 children, live in a three-bedroom house and only speak English at home. The 2011 census of population and housing released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics noted 80% of Sutherland Shire residents were born in Australia, followed then by those born in the UK, NZ, Italy and South Africa. The percentage of residents claiming Australian ancestry is among the highest in Sydney among its population of about 219,000.
There are 40 suburbs, the decent residents of which are all cowering in horror at their depiction last Monday in the new Channel 10 scripted reality television series The Shire. RP Data suggests the three cheapest suburbs when it comes to property prices this year have been Jannali, Heathcote and Sutherland, all with median dwelling price around $400,000. The shire has had a $590,000 median dwelling price of $590,000 so far this year. The dearest three suburbs have been Burraneer, Yowie Bay and Lilli Pilli, with medians at $1 million or more.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/april3shell]}
<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg">
Soumershell (pictured above), the ultra-contemporary house on the shores of Gunnamatta Bay, has been the shire's highest sale this year. It was sold by longtime Cisco operative Frank Maly and wife Monica, who initially wanted $10 million on its 2007 listing. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/after-five-years-super-saturday-s-%244.95-million-sale-represents-a-half-price-haircut/2012040154109">Soumershell sold for $4.95 million</a>. The tri-level house set on 1,184 square metres with 20-metre heated lap and plunge pools, level lawns, slip rail with cradle and pontoon with poles. Inside there’s triple lock-up garage, heated limestone floors, gym and home theatre.
<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg">The shire's priciest house sale ever was $10.85 million in 2005, but it was highly intriguing. Waterview, the vast Kangaroo Point riverfront house, was sold by the macadamia pioneer Lance O'Connor to a Stargate Securities director, Allan Botros, who secured some vendor finance. Only in the shire could a former bankrupt buy the priciest Georges River pile. Just eight years earlier Botros had only $200 in his Bankstown ANZ account. The then Picnic Point-based finance broker, aka Ashraf Botros or Kiriakos Botros, blamed his dire late 1990s circumstances on a commodity transaction involving a US company that left him shortchanged by $US650,000. His bankruptcy trustee, Max Prentice, then sold his Picnic Point house for $835,000. Waterview, set on 2,680 square metres facing Bald Face Point, came with a three-level house, with a sandstone boatshed, and had held the suburb's record when previously traded in 1992 for $2.35 million.
Kangaroo Point, with just 180 houses, had recorded a $2.2 million average house price in 2004, so it is at the pointy end of prices for the shire. Title Tattle recalls by late 2007 Botros was facing bankruptcy again, this time from his other house purchase financiers, the Commonwealth Bank, and the place sold for $6 million to the founders of the cleaning company, the Glad Group's Natajle "Nick" Iloski and his wife, Ljubica or "Lucy." The Iloskis’ subsequent plans to extend their two-storey house into a three-storey house with 900-square-metre floor space was knocked back in the NSW Land &amp; Environment Court last year.
<img src="/images/stories/noll1.jpg">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="margin: 5px; float: left;">About 170 of the 1,800 shire swelling sales this year have been above $1 million. Singer Shannon Noll and his wife, Rochelle, were one of the sellers securing $1.26 million for their five-bedroom Lilli Pilli home (pictured above) for $1.26 million. Their two-storey, American homestead-style abode had cost $1,285,000 in 2005 after Noll’s Australian Idol stardom. The former champion swimmer Ian Thorpe sold his Sutherland Shire waterfront home (pictured below) to another sporting legend, the NSW State of Origin coach Ricky Stuart, for $2.65 million earlier this year. But <a target="_blank" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/thorpie-underwater-in-sale-to-ricky-stuart-title-tattle/2012040354132">its sale</a> reflects the shire’s tough selling conditions, as it sold at $250,000 less than the $2.9 million paid in 2003 for the Port Hacking waterfront.
<img src="/images/stories/thorpe2.jpg">
Retired fast bowler cricketing champion Glenn McGrath couldn’t find a buyer at his desired $6 million over the past year or two, so he’s still there and the property withdrawn from sale. Ditto the Australian Cricket captain Michael Clarke, who similarly tried too to sell a few years back, while living in Bondi with Lara Bingle, another Channel 10 so-called reality show. But Clarke's moved back home to the shire with his wife, Kylie. Clarke has owned the Lilli Pilli house since 2006 when he paid $2.87 million. The former Australian Cricket captain Ricky Ponting bought his house in the shire for $3.8 million in 2004, and in 2010 the glamour couple Shane Watson and Lee Furlong joined the wave of cricketing royalty owning in the shire when they paid $3.99 million for a waterfront property at Burraneer Bay.


<hr class="system-pagebreak">
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/carringbah.jpg">
<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg">Just upgrading has been Paul Gallen, the Cronulla Sharks and State of Origin captain and his wife, Anne. They recently paid $1,325,000 for a Burraneer six-bedroom house overlooking Gunnamatta Bay through David Highland of Highland Property Agents. It followed the birth of their second child last year when the Gallens’ baby son Kody was born. They sold their four-bedroom Caringbah South house (pictured above) in May for $820,000 through agent Ivan Lampret, having paid $712,000 in 2007.
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="margin: 5px; float: left;">It’s not just sporty types who reside in the shire – as Title Tattle is aware of two studious economists. Craig James from CommSec has lived at Dolans Bay since paying $855,000 in 2001, which was an upgrade from his $645,000 Dolans Bay house with wife, Karen. He's not to be confused with Craig James the commercial painter at Taren Point. And of course the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glenn Stevens, resides off the waterfront at the canal estate Sylvania Waters. The Waters is best remembered for the Donaher family, who sold out in 2003 for $2.1 million from their MacIntyre Crescent house. It took a dozen or so years locals say to get over the bitter memories of the 1992 British reality show Sylvania Waters which starred the abrasive blonde Noeline Donaher and her family. Local real estate agents suggested the suburb became more famous for its vulgarity than its views. "Noeline Donaher put people off the suburb," said one agent. "She spiced up the stereotype that it was the poor man's waterfront and it carries a stigma anyway as it was once swamp land," he suggested a few years ago.
<img style="margin: 5px; float: left;" src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg">The shire's history does pre-date reality television. Indeed Fernleigh remains an 1820s house overlooking Burraneer Bay at Caringbah. The home is believed to be the first constructed in the Sutherland area and has been an envied point of interest for almost 200 years. It was listed in 2005 through estate agent Natalie Vials, finally selling in 2006 at $1.85 million, the first time in six decades. It’s a seven-bedroom sandstone home, on 3,224 square metres with waterfront access, built for Captain Thomas Laycock, of the 98th Regiment, using convict labour to provide the hand-hewn, 50-centimetre sandstone blocks. It has "1821" carved on the stone lintel above the front door, suggesting it ranks as the oldest continuously occupied residence in the Sutherland Shire.
Its ballroom was added in 1920, and an Art Deco bathroom in the 1930s. The Alcott family, who were the most recent vendors, had bought it from Harry Peel at first sight, on a walk-in, walk-out basis, for £8,000 in 1946 after spotting it from the water. The Three Pines Boatshed, part of the original holding and now Burraneer Bay Marina, was subdivided off in the 1970s. Title Tattle seems to recall the launch of Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, the quintessential Australian folk song of Alcott family friend Rolf Harris, was held on the front lawn.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/lyons.jpg" width="470">
<img src="/images/stories/flagtitletat.jpg" style="margin: 5px; float: left;">There's even the only example of noted architect Robin Boyd's work in Sydney at Dolans Bay. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2008/08/lyons-house-syd">Designed by the Melbourne architect Boyd in 1966</a>, it's still inhabited by the original owners the Lyons family. Thankfully it was heritage listed on the shire's local environment plan in 2003, but only after the Lyons family had to fight a four-day Land &amp; Environment Court hearing in 2000 to prevent unsympathetic building works next door. Boyd who died young, aged only 52 in 1971, is best remembered as being the artistic architectural conscience of the country in part  because of his commissions, but also from his influential writing critics, including The Australian Ugliness. That still exists in new forms.
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Weatherman Grant Denyer spends $1.95 million as Title Tattle puts Sutherland Shire property under the spotlight

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Milne House, the single-colour Robin Boyd-designed Toorak house, has been listed for August 11 auction.
Set on the corner of Toorak and Glenbervie Roads, it’s a four bedroom courtyard home last traded unrenovated in early 2006 for $1.63 million.
The Bennison Mackinnon agents Hugh Hardy and Andrew Macmillan have it listed with $2.5 million-plus hopes, marketing it as a Boyd masterpiece. As it is bold and unique, and environmentally sustainable, Title Tattle is surprised The Weekly Review's property columnist Neil Clerehan hasn't yet published a review, as it’s right up his architectural alley.
The agents are marketing the house crediting Boyd as designing the house in 1971, <a href="https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/gid/slv-pic-aab52309" target="_blank">although State Library of Victoria photographs by Peter Wille</a> suggest it was possibly in the late 1960s. The Malvern Heritage Study puts its date at 1970.
Either way, it is acknowledged as one of Boyd’s last homes by heritage authorities, since he died aged 52 in 1971. Milne House - commissioned by IJ Milne - comes with steep skilling roof forms in opposing combinations, bagged brick walls, separate wings, simple features and a near windowless front facade on its 640 sq m block.
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Robin Boyd-designed Toorak home Milne House listed with $2.5 million-plus hopes

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The Gold Coast home of Mike Dodd, one of the Consolidated Properties men who developed the Casuarina Beach community on the Tweed Coast, has been listed for sale.
The Surfers Paradise house was built in the 1990s by Tony Bawden, one of the founders of housing company Villa World.
It last traded in 2005 for $4,925,000 from another developer, Tom Ray, who had paid $4,478,000 just a few months earlier.
Set on a 1,658-square-metre Cannes Avenue block on prime Main River land, the house has four bedrooms and office.
With 42-metre frontage it has two pontoons. It's marketed as having future high-rise development potential.
{yoogallery src=[images/stories/2012/07/july19broadbeach]}
Property developer Grant Hutchings has bought elsewhere so his Broadbeach Waters mansion (pictured above) has been listed for sale.  
The four-bedroom Monaco Street house is set on a 1,496-square-metre holding. The house, which totals about 70 squares (about 650 square metres) comes with tennis court and pool.
It's only two doors from Main River, having a full 27 metres of white sand beach below a barbecue terrace with pavilion amid rainforest greenery.
It's listed through Ray White Surfers Paradise Prestige agent Sherry Smith.
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Monaco and Cannes addresses in Gold Coast offerings with a Riviera flavour 

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Brookfield Residential has unveiled its approved 70-storey Sydney residential tower proposal for its Sydney Water Board site. The $211 million project will be Australia’s most slender tower and will allow almost all of the 420 apartments to have access to direct northern sun and views.
It will also be the tallest residential tower in the Sydney skyline at 240 metres, beating off Meriton's 230-metre tall World Tower, which dates back to 2004. The new tower will appear considerably taller as it is built further up a ridge than World Tower. There are five office towers that are taller than World Tower.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/kaanfinch1.jpg">
The 115 Bathurst Street/339 Pitt Street mixed-use project is on a 4,000-square-metre site, with a retail and commercial podium, which incorporates the adaptive reuse of its eight-storey heritage listed 1930s Pitt Street building.
Brookfield, which bought the site for $140 million in 2007, has had the project listed for sale through Colliers agent Vince Kernahan and Jon Chomley. Stage 1 development approval has been granted for the design concept by Kann Finch, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/article/Kannfinch-design-Sydneys-super-slim-and-tallest-tower/534738.aspx?utm_source=20120718&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletters">Architecture and Design.</a>
The previous Brookfield images showed its building envelope (pictured below).
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/brookfield.jpg"> 
For more about Sydney's present and future, download our free eBook<a target="_blank" href="http://propertyobserver.com.au/ebooks/free-ebook-sydney-embracing-the-world-of-tomorrow"> Sydney: Embracing the world of tomorrow</a>
 
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Brookfield secure approval for slimline Sydney tower development to be city’s tallest residential high rise

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HatchMyHouse.com allows the bride and groom to involve friends and family in their quest to purchase or decorate a marital home. They can build a graphic of their desired home and set a range of prices for the marriage registry such as $25 for a flower pot, $200 for a bay window, $900 for a marble column, or an unlimited amount for a home deposit.
To date the service claims to have helped couples raise more than $543,000 towards a house deposit. The US-based HatchMyHouse also operates in New Zealand and Canada and Australia, although its testimonials don’t have any apparent Australian couples. It's been going for about two years.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hatchmyhouse" target="_blank"><img src="/images/stories/2012/07/hatchtweet.jpg"></a>
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Who needs china, cutlery and cotton linen? Australian wedding guests can give a house: Tweet of the Day

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Harry Triguboff’s Meriton has spent $48.5 million to buy the controversial Lewisham Estates development site through Colliers agent Ray Younes.
It’s a lucrative site with the amended potential for between 377 and 430 units given its proximity of the Lewisham railway station, the light rail route due in 2014, bus routes and public Ray Younespedestrian and cycle pathways.
Triguboff has boasted he'd beaten Frasers Property, Toga, Crown Group and Ralan to win the tender. Charlie Demian of the Demian Group paid $8.5 million for the site in 2005.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/triguboffcartoon2.jpg">
(Source Marrickville Greens circa 2009)
It was in 2009 when Marrickville Council resolved to prepare a masterplan for the land known as the McGill Street precinct. The initial application was for 524 units in high-rise towers of up to 14 storeys. All were vigourously opposed by the <a href="https://marrickvillegreens.wordpress.com/issue/lewisham-part-3a-development/" target="_blank">Marrickville Greens</a>, the No Lewisham Towers Residents Action Committee, and the Summer Hill Action group with its Labor Party political context warranting publication of a story on the <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2009/05/11/nsw-stand-off-between-tebbutt-and-keneally/" target="_blank">Crikey </a>website written by Alex Mitchell.
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/lewisham.jpg">
An amended development application was referred by ministerial delegation to the NSW Planning Assessment Commission last September seeking seven buildings between four and 10 storeys, which was approved in March after modifications including seeing its publicly accessible open space being increased from 1,300 square metres to 3,097 square metres.  
Earlier this year <a href="https://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/inaccurate-images-anger-residents-20120220-1tjox" target="_blank">the SMH reported the Demian Group was ordered by the Department of Planning to redo the images</a> that were publicly exhibited for the project after questions were raised over their accuracy.
The $150 million project has a maximum 38,896 square metres gross floor area. It will come with two basement levels of car parking, but no supermarket as initially sought. There will be a cafe. The maximum overall floor space ratio will be 3.15:1.
The precinct is bounded by Old Canterbury Road to the east and south, Hawthorne Canal and the Rozelle Goods Line to the west and Longport Street to the north.
The site had been earmarked by the NSW Planning Department as suitable for genuine transport-oriented redevelopment, one of several nodes around the city earmarked for additional density development.
Marrickville Council suggested to the PAC there was a need for all three current applications; 78-90 Old Canterbury Road, Lewisham; the Allied Mills site in the Ashfield LGA; and the Sydney Light Rail Extension, to be assessed in a coordinated manner to realise the cumulative impacts of the developments.
The council also suggested the applicant's environment assessment report commented that the site was not flood prone without any investigation or analysis.
The site is not currently zoned as flood prone land as Council has not undertaken a flood study of the Hawthorn Canal Catchment, but the council seems it “very likely” that the site is at risk of flooding as the Hawthorne Canal runs adjacent to the site west of the railway line.
The initial plans for the Lewisham project raised the ire of the local community during the public consultation period because of its height, its density and the potential impact on local traffic, stemmed around nine buildings of up to 14 storeys. The campaigners at the Marrickville Greens produced an emotive artists' sketch (pictured above) which depicted the scheme when it was envisaged as 14 storeys and supermarket.
Meriton has been long mooted as the buyer of the site at 78-90 Old Canterbury Road, Lewisham, subject to rezoning. Meriton intend to now proceed with securing the final development approvals with the Tony Owen Partners' concept (pictured below) for the 13,000-square-metres former Packsite site. It is likely to market the off the plan apartments in late 2012. 
<img src="/images/stories/2012/07/lewisham2.jpg">
Council town planners had previously described the initial concept proposal as a "dog of a development" especially as it in an area dominated by single-storey homes.
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Harry Triguboff's Meriton buys Lewisham Estates development site for $48.5 million

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Simone Callahan, the former wife of Shane Warne, has sold her Mornington Peninsula home, which was on the market earlier this year with $1.65 million-plus hopes.
A $1.5 million sale was secured for the four-bedroom Arthurs Seat home with a tennis court and swimming pool, and guest quarters.

It was bought by Barbara Fayman, wife of Marvin Fayman, the abattoir company boss who successfully established the Half-Case Warehouse Supermarket chain in Victoria and New South Wales in the 1970s.

Callahan had first put it on the market in March 2010 with a $2 million price tag.

Callahan bought the house in 2008 for $1,225,000 and gave it an upmarket makeover.

The 4,700-square-metre property <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/victoria/simone-warne-hopes-third-listing-lucky-for-mornington-peninsula-retreat-title-tattle/2012022653550" target="_blank">had been listed</a> through Harcourts Rosebud agent Grant McConnell, who put Clahane to March 2012 auction.

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Simone Callahan sells Arthurs Seat home for $1.5 million

ASX-listed developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/stockland">Stockland</a>&nbsp;is continuing its push back into the new apartment market, filing plans for a prominent gateway site between Collingwood and East Melbourne.

The development giant, which moved back into the new apartment space when it announced Stanton Place in Sydney's Rosebery and have since filed plans for a 50-storey tower, are jumping into the off the plan Melbourne market.

They are hoping to create a mixed-use neighbourhood precinct for <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/79-81-victoria-parade-collingwood-vic-3066">79-81 Victoria Parade</a>, replacing an existing commercial building with a scheme by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/john-wardle-architects">Wardle</a>&nbsp;for 478 apartments,&nbsp;ground-floor retail, new public open spaces and a publicly accessible pedestrian laneway.

<img alt="First look: Stockland plans new mixed-use neighbourhood precinct for Collingwood gateway site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="72dbbca9-3918-4073-afad-a0c0c35be8e7" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/stockland%20pers.png?VersionId=bzMVUKKxvwuNK1m0v_td126Rgct32uk_" />

The design report identifies the public realm as a central driver of the proposal.

"Collingwood has limited access to high-quality parks and public open space, and the proposal delivers valuable new areas for respite, social interaction and fine-grain retail activity."

The development would deliver a diverse mix of housing, including studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments alongside townhouse-style residences. Two basement levels are proposed beneath the development, providing resident and retail parking as well as extensive bicycle facilities.

Wardle's design draws heavily on Collingwood's industrial character, using articulated building forms, brickwork and robust materials inspired by the suburb's warehouse and manufacturing heritage. The built form has been broken into a series of smaller volumes to better respond to the surrounding streetscape while extensive communal gardens, rooftop amenities and shared resident spaces are integrated throughout the project.

<img alt="First look: Stockland plans new mixed-use neighbourhood precinct for Collingwood gateway site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7b2135ed-65df-4253-ad53-f216f06bd467" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/stockland%20podium.png?VersionId=l1B6Hqn8zs772VxH6L1fDPg0KHshan9v" />

The planning documents describe the existing office building as offering little engagement with the public realm, with the redevelopment intended to create a more permeable and active neighbourhood destination.

"The proposed scheme presents a significant opportunity to deliver a vibrant retail plaza and a local neighbourhood hub serving both existing and future Collingwood residents."

The 79–81 Victoria Parade site occupies a strategic location about 1.5 kilometres east of Melbourne's CBD, at the threshold between Collingwood and East Melbourne. It is well served by tram services along Victoria Parade and sits within walking distance of St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy Gardens, the Fitzroy activity centre and a broad range of employment, retail and hospitality destinations.

Joel Robinson

Stockland plans new mixed-use neighbourhood precinct for Collingwood gateway site

An 1880s timber cottage that has survived Kangaroo Point's transformation from riverside suburb to high-density apartment precinct is set to become the centrepiece of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/zephyr">Zephyr Group</a>'s proposed Banksia development.

Rather than see the locally heritage-listed Alpha Cottage as an obstacle to navigate, plans integrate the landmark home into a new 18-storey residential tower, giving one of the suburb's oldest surviving residences a new role as the project's communal hub.

The development application covers a 1,177 sqm amalgamated site at 127-133 Lambert Street and 30 Shafston Avenue, where Zephyr Group plans to deliver 64 apartments above three basement levels. Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/joe-adsett-architects">Joe Adsett Architects</a>, the proposal carefully weaves the retained heritage cottage into a contemporary residential scheme, with the tower elevated above the historic building to preserve its presence within the Lambert Street streetscape.

<img alt="First look: Zephyr Group's Banksia to wrap new Kangaroo Point tower around 1880s Alpha Cottage" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f9dc5bdb-d691-4c60-bf2b-c3ed405a3e75" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Banksia.png?VersionId=Jh4bjlewU.o8HXWt0V4KaFA_lPcF7KWM" />

Named after the native Australian Banksia flower, the project draws inspiration from its distinctive form through curved balconies, sculpted planter boxes and cascading subtropical landscaping that soften the building's profile.

As the design report explains: "The tower's identity is defined by its feature facade, drawing direct inspiration from the Banksia wildflower. The building departs from traditional rigidity through the use of elegant, GRC-moulded planter boxes that appear as if shaped by the breeze."

Plans propose 64 apartments, comprising 32 two-bedroom and 32 three-bedroom residences, across an 18-storey tower. Residents would have access to rooftop amenities including a swimming pool, spa, gym, sauna, private cinema, dining spaces and landscaped recreation areas, while more than half the site is dedicated to planting and open space.

<img alt="First look: Zephyr Group's Banksia to wrap new Kangaroo Point tower around 1880s Alpha Cottage" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="16041b5f-033e-47fa-8fbe-9886e072c1f2" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/pool.png?VersionId=kpx5w4EbLx0_TdWfDoD1vrSs0_cZ5Ao1" />

The heritage component is the defining feature of the proposal. Constructed in the early 1880s and occupied from at least 1883, Alpha Cottage is recognised by Brisbane City Council as an important surviving example of Kangaroo Point's nineteenth-century residential development and as a representative transverse-gable timber cottage. Despite extensive redevelopment across the peninsula, the building has retained a high degree of its original form and internal fabric.

As part of the redevelopment, the cottage will be carefully relocated a short distance within its original allotment to facilitate construction before being returned to a prominent position along Lambert Street. Original verandah elements will be dismantled, catalogued and reinstated, while significant internal features, including timber flooring, wall linings, joinery, doors, windows and hardware, will be retained. Later additions, including the enclosed rear verandah, will be removed to better reveal the building's original form.

Once restored, Alpha Cottage will accommodate the building manager's office, mail room and parcel facilities, providing an active everyday use that supports its long-term conservation rather than preserving it as a static display. The heritage strategy also maintains landscaped space around the building, allowing it to remain visually distinct beneath the new tower.

<img alt="First look: Zephyr Group's Banksia to wrap new Kangaroo Point tower around 1880s Alpha Cottage" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="43b027e1-576e-4624-a66c-7cc54ea8b7be" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/banksia%20tower.png?VersionId=2W6E2yfkj2AQlWlLeV986grA5zB9f817" />

The Heritage Impact Assessment concludes that "the proposal secures the ongoing occupation, maintenance and conservation of Alpha Cottage," finding the development would result in "no more than a minor impact on the cultural heritage significance" of the building while ensuring its long-term future.

Joe Adsett Architects have designed the tower to sit above the heritage building rather than overwhelm it, creating a clear visual separation between old and new. The development's flowing balconies, integrated planting and organic façade respond to Brisbane's subtropical climate while complementing the restored cottage below.

Banksia occupies a prominent corner in Kangaroo Point within walking distance of the Kangaroo Point Bridge, Brisbane River, ferry services, QUT, the CBD and the Woolloongabba precinct. The site also benefits from direct access to active transport infrastructure and sits within an area earmarked for continued higher-density residential growth.

Zephyr Group's Banksia to wrap new Kangaroo Point tower around 1880s Alpha Cottage

Buying into a masterplanned community often means committing to a vision still years from taking shape. At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a>, that vision is already visible.

Residents have moved into the completed first stage, landscaped spaces are established, and the next chapter is now underway. Stage 1 has been completed and settled, with Stage 2 now selling off-the-plan.

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/pbd-architects">PBD Architects</a>, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> combines attainable apartment living with sustainability initiatives rarely seen at this price point, including rooftop solar, battery storage and a resident EV-sharing program.

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Located on Schofi​elds Road, just moments from Tal​lawong Metro Station and Schof​ields Train Station, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> has been designed to appeal to a broad mix of buyers, from first-home purchasers looking for a foothold in Sy​dney's property market to downsizers seeking a connected, low-maintenance lifestyle.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> has been conceived as a thoughtfully planned masterplanned community that will evolve over multiple stages, with buyers now able to secure one, two and three-bedroom apartments within a neighbourhood that is already beginning to establish its identity.

One of the project's defining features is its focus on sustainability. Solar energy systems, battery storage and future EV charging infrastructure have been incorporated throughout the development, reflecting a long-term approach to both environmental performance and everyday convenience.

Sustainability sits at the centre of the development's vision, with solar energy systems, battery storage and future EV charging infrastructure integrated throughout the community.

That emphasis on future-ready living extends beyond the technology. Landscaped communal gardens, outdoor gathering spaces and plans for a future retail precinct aim to create a neighbourhood where residents can access daily conveniences without travelling far from home.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149637 project_image_fid=351027]

The apartments themselves have been designed with liveability front of mind. Rather than chasing maximum density, the focus has been placed on creating practical homes with generous natural light, usable layouts and strong connections to outdoor space.

Importantly, these design principles have been applied consistently across the one, two and three-bedroom apartment offerings.

The appeal of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> is also closely linked to its location within Syd​ney's rapidly evolving north-west growth corridor. Over the past decade, major infrastructure investment has transformed the area, with new transport links, business precincts and community facilities reshaping suburbs like Talla​wong and Schofiel​ds.

The agent says buyers are increasingly recognising the area's long-term potential.

"Typical buyers that we're finding across <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> especially are your first-home buyers, your investors, your upsizers as well as your downsizers," Hawes says.

Connectivity remains one of the project's strongest drawcards. Residents have access to both Tallaw​ong Metro Station and Schofi​elds Train Station, providing links to the Sydn​ey CBD, Norw​est Business Park, Macquari​e Park and other major employment hubs. Retail centres including Rous​e Hill Town Centre and Sch​ofields Village are also nearby, alongside schools, parks and future healthcare infrastructure.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149637 project_image_fid=351031]

For Stage 1 resident Roji, it is the balance between convenience and comfort that has defined the experience of living at Kew.

"For me, it's a balance of quality and convenience," she says. "Everything I need is right here."

"If I wanted to catch the train, Scho​fields Station is just around the corner. Tallaw​ong Metro connects me to the city."

More importantly, she says, the development has delivered something that cannot be measured in floorplans or specifications.

"<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> feels like home."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149637 project_image_fid=351024]

As Stage 2 enters the market, that lived experience may be one of the project's strongest selling points. Buyers are not purchasing into an untested concept or a future promise. They are joining a community that is already taking shape.

Ongoing investment in transport, retail, healthcare and public open space continues to strengthen the appeal of Syd​ney's north-west growth corridor, while <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a>'s established first stage provides buyers with a tangible sense of the community's future direction.

For a limited time, buyer can secure a new home at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kew-tallawong-23-27-schofields-road-tallawong-nsw-2762">Kew Tallawong</a> with just a $10,000.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=149637]

Kew Tallawong: A growing community taking shape in Sydney's north-west

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/freecity">Freecity</a> has received development approval for its 51-storey mixed-use tower at 153-157 Walker Street, North Sydney, set to be one of the tallest mixed-use residential-led buildings in one of Sydney’s most sought-after commercial and residential addresses.

Lodged as a State Significant Development Application (SSDA) through the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) pathway and approved by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure following a comprehensive public exhibition and submissions process, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/153-walker-street-north-sydney-nsw-2060">the project</a> will deliver 296 apartments, alongside a 170-room, luxury hotel, activated retail and significant public domain improvements.

Situated just 200 metres from Victoria Cross Metro Station, on one of the largest developable sites in North Sydney, the development will rise to 234 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings in the suburb. With an end value of approximately $1.5 billion, the project responds directly to the NSW Government’s mandate to accelerate housing delivery in well-located, transit-connected areas.

<img alt="Freecity gets green light for mixed-use residential and hotel tower in North Sydney" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="192ec455-94bf-4e01-83ef-922b1b269d67" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Freecity%20-%20Walker%20Street%20North%20Sydney%201%20RESIZED%20.jpg?VersionId=Bzqp0SBHCDvLAHjA4QXkjuGoOEIh73Jl" />

The apartment mix will cater to a broad range of buyers, with 65 studio and one-bedroom apartments, 139 two-bedroom residences, 35 three-bedroom apartments, 48 four-bedroom homes, and nine penthouses. Residents will have access to a dedicated amenity level on Level 33, featuring a swimming pool with views towards the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and North Sydney CBD, as well as a gym, library, shared kitchen, lounge and outdoor entertaining areas.

The hotel will occupy the lower six levels of the building and include meeting and function spaces, a wellness centre with gym, yoga studio, swimming pool and sauna, further strengthening North Sydney's growing hospitality offering.

At ground level, the development has been designed to improve pedestrian connections through the precinct. More than 700 sqm of retail space will activate the street frontage, while a landscaped through-site link connecting Walker Street, Little Walker Street and Doris Fitton Park will provide new public open space with seating, paving and extensive native landscaping.

Freecity Group Co-Founder and Joint CEO Tony Sun said the project represents one of the most significant development opportunities currently available in North Sydney.

"This is one of the most significant development sites in North Sydney and it comes at a pivotal moment for the precinct," Sun said.

"North Sydney is undergoing a genuine transformation, and this project will contribute housing the city urgently needs while creating a landmark destination."

Executive Director of Development Michael Romano said demand for both residential and hotel accommodation would continue to strengthen as the Metro precinct matures.

"The structural demand for high-quality housing and hotel accommodation in North Sydney is compelling, and will only grow as the precinct continues to evolve around the new Metro station," Romano said.

Architectus has designed the tower, orientating the apartments to maximise views towards Sydney Harbour while introducing a sculpted façade intended to respond to light, wind and the surrounding skyline.

Architectus Principal Marko Damic said the design sought to create a tower that contributes to the public realm as much as the skyline.

"We wanted to design a tower that doesn't just sit in the skyline but actively participates and contributes to city life," Damic said.

First look: Freecity gets green light for mixed-use apartment and hotel tower in North Sydney

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/abadeen">Abadeen</a> and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/perifa">PERIFA</a> have celebrated the topping out of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf,</a> marking a significant milestone in the delivery of one of Syd​ney's most anticipated waterfront communities.

Located on Sydney's harbourfront at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/putney-nsw-2112">Putney</a>, the project has now reached its highest structural point, with construction progressing strongly towards completion in 2027. 
&nbsp; 
The milestone was celebrated on-site with project partners Phoenix Property Investors, Mitsubishi Estate Asia, Versatile Construction, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/sjb-architects">SJB</a>, consultants and stakeholders, to recognise the collective effort behind the transformation of the historic waterfront site into a vibrant new residential, marina and lifestyle destination.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=13962 project_image_fid=362240] 
&nbsp; 
<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> will deliver a mix of waterfront residences and terraces, complemented by a private 36-berth marina, waterfront dining opportunities and a revitalised foreshore designed to reconnect the community with the river's edge. 
&nbsp; 
Abadeen Executive Chairman and Founder Justin Brown said the project represented a rare opportunity to create the next chapter in Sydn​ey's long history of successful waterfront precincts. 
&nbsp; 
"Throughout Sydney, some of the city's most sought-after addresses have emerged from carefully considered waterfront precincts such as Woolloom​ooloo Wharf, Walsh Bay and Breakfast Point," Brown said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=13962 project_image_fid=362566] 
&nbsp; 
"What makes these places so successful is that they become much more than residential developments," Brown said.

"They bring together homes, hospitality, marina facilities, public spaces and a strong sense of community in locations where future supply is incredibly limited."

Brown has long described absolute waterfront land in Sy​dney as "finite."

"Once these opportunities are developed, they are rarely replicated. That's why Syd​ney's waterfront precincts have consistently demonstrated strong demand and long-term value growth over many decades. 
&nbsp; 
"<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> is one of the few remaining opportunities to secure a residence within a masterplanned waterfront community that combines direct water access, marina ownership opportunities and a genuine village lifestyle just moments from the Sy​dney CBD."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=13962 project_image_fid=362564] 
&nbsp; 
PERIFA Founder and Managing Director Fabrizio Perilli said the project reflected a shared commitment to delivering exceptional places that create long-term value for residents and the broader community. 
&nbsp; 
"The topping out milestone is a significant achievement for the Versatile Group and a testament to the collaboration between all project partners, consultants and contractors involved," Perilli said. 
&nbsp; 
"Beyond the residences themselves, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> will establish a new waterfront destination that celebrates the history, character and lifestyle of this unique location while creating a lasting legacy for future generations."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=13962 project_image_fid=291195] 
&nbsp; 
Construction is being delivered by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/builders/versatile">Versatile Construction</a>, with structural works now substantially complete across the precinct. Attention will progressively shift to the construction of the waterview terraces, apartment façades, services and interior fit-out works over the coming months. 
&nbsp; 
With limited residences and marina berths remaining, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> continues to attract strong interest from owner occupiers and downsizers seeking a premium waterfront lifestyle within close proximity to Putne​y Village, Rh​odes, Top Ry​de and the Syd​ney CBD. 
&nbsp; 
As one of the last opportunities to secure a residence within a new masterplanned waterfront community on Sy​dney Harbour, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/putney-wharf-harbourfront-precinct-20-waterview-street-putney-nsw-2112">Putney Wharf</a> is expected to remain a highly sought-after address for years to come.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=13962]

Jonathan Chancellor

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