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Posts Tagged with Bowen Hills Brisbane

Posted by admin on 30 March 2010

With so much happening with Brisbane infrastructure it can be hard to keep up. So here’s a ‘Cook’s tour’ of the latest:

The opening this month of Clem 7 is a significant milestone for a lot of reasons. It’s the first piece of the Lord Mayor’s “TransApex” plan, and this 4.8km tunnel is the first Brisbane river crossing for cars since 1986. Almost a quarter of a century!

The media write about the impact on cross-city travel, speeding travel times. But there’s also major benefits to the live-ability for inner city residents and property owners. Clem 7 will take 60,000 cars a day away from surface roads and move them underground. Residents of Kangaroo Point, Woolloongabba and South Brisbane will have less noise and less congestion.

The next piece of the Newman TransApex Pie is the Hale Street Link, a bridge between South Brisbane and Milton that’s due to open in just 2 months time. This one will help free up the traffic bottlenecks that occur in so many near-CBD junctions. Two new cross river crossings will be complete – amazing how things can actually get done!

Airport Link is the third major project, now being run by the state government, and with tunnel boring underway as we write. This 6.7km roadway will start at Bowen Hills, linking the Clem 7 and Inner City Bypass to out near the airport. Residents in suburbs like Clayfield, Windsor and Lutwyche will have direct and immediate benefit when it opens in 2012.

Suburbs like Auchenflower and Milton can often feel like thoroughfares for major traffic routes Milton Road and Coronation Drive. But with the Northern Link soon to burrow from the Western Freeway at Toowong and popping back up at Kelvin Grove to link with the Inner City Bypass, there’ll be some relief for these inner west residents. Northern Link is due to start construction this year and wrap up in 2014.

The fifth and final TransApex project is the East West Link. This tunnel would link the M1 at Buranda with the Western Freeway at Toowong, bypassing the West End peninsula to offer a significant cross-city link. Even the inner-south’s anti-development movement must be able to see the benefits of this one. Officially it appears East West is on hold for some years to come…

Savvy property owners and investors watch infrastructure changes with interest. There’s plenty on this list to keep us all busy for the next few years.

The TransApex plan for Brisbane

The TransApex plan for Brisbane

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Posted in Brisbane's future & new infrastructure, Woolloongabba, trends in Brisbane property | 2 Comments »

Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 12 October 2009

PrideWe were recently asked to dust off our crystal ball for www.ourbrisbane.com and paint a picture of inner Brisbane in the year 2020. No Jetsons-like spacecraft but it still takes some getting your head around!

“I closed my apartment door and while I waited for the lift to climb to the 25th floor I glanced across to the city skyline, its buildings piercing the morning clouds and soaring through them. A quick stop for my usual caffeine fix then down into the subway for the two minute commute under the Brisbane River to Eagle Street station.”

Brisbane’s property landscape will change enormously over the next decade. An imaginary day in the year 2020 will include a Gabba resident calling a 25th storey apartment their home. A new, high speed subway will likely link that suburb, and many inner suburbs, with the offices of the lower CBD. With a scarcity of land, its office towers will probably top 100 storey.

It might be mind boggling but this vision of Brisbane is almost here.

Our population continues to grow and taller buildings are being encouraged to house these new arrivals. Many middle-ring Brisbane suburbs will resist the trend, residents unhappy for ‘seismic’ change in their neighbourhoods. But change will be relentless in the inner city as light industry and other land uses make way for apartment development. Huge tracts of land in Bowen Hills, the RNA Showgrounds amongst them, are already in planning. The Gabba, South Brisbane and Milton are some of the suburbs that will look very different by the year 2020.

The landmark Fourex brewery may well be redeveloped into apartments, shops and, hopefully, a bar or two!

Despite the State Government’s plan to decentralize its workforce by pulling 20% of its offices out of the CBD, the demand for central office space will see heights rise. Our city centre will also spread, crossing the river as South Brisbane accommodates 30 storey offices. More bridges and more tunnels will link Kangaroo Point, New Farm, Toowong and West End.

Council will spend more on parklands, greening the city like never before to counter its ‘urban-ness’. North Bank will be developed, a substantial green belt and dining precinct lining the Brisbane River alongside offices and apartments that straddle and veil the Riverside Expressway.

Planners will take advantage of this greater population, encouraging streetside cafes, arts precincts, entertainment options and cosy laneway bars. The Parmalat site (Paul’s Milk) in South Brisbane might even be the site of Brisbane’s own Opera House …

Adding almost half a million new residents by 2020, Brisbane will not be the same city as it is today. For better and for worse.

Visit the real estate pages of www.ourbrisbane.com for more interesting articles.

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Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane's future & new infrastructure, Brisbane's rental market, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End, Woolloongabba, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »

Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 6 August 2009

Ekka time in Brisbane with the RNA’s major show starting today. Amazingly the Ekka’s been held at the same RNA showgrounds for over 130 years and thanks to some careful redevelopment planning it may continue for a long time yet. The Association announced in May it had appointed Lend Lease as its “Preferred Development Partner” for the 22 hectare (50+ acre) site. Ideas and plans have been tossed around for a couple of years but there’s now a company involved who can make it all happen.

To put this in perspective the Ekka showgrounds are 30% bigger than South Bank, have a railway station at their centre, are comfy walking distance from most of the CBD and are smack bang amongst inner Brisbane’s rapid growth suburbs. And while they do host plenty of non-Ekka events, for most of the year the site’s locked off as an impenetrable island.

There’s a lot of planning to come yet but with a likely value of $3billion and a 15 year timeline (GFC’s and property cycles to be considered) the RNA redevelopment could have a massive impact on the inner city. The planning logic so far is good: protect genuine heritage buildings, make the site active every day of the year, build offices and shops, make room for new apartments, create walkways and bike paths so the site can be traversed and is more integrated into its neighbourhoods and front new buildings onto existing road infrastructure of St Paul’s Terrace, Exhibition and Brookes Streets.

One exciting idea is the establishment of a big fresh produce market. It’s a nice fit with the Ekka’s brand and would be a winner given the popularity of markets like Davies Park and the Powerhouse. Around 5 hectares of the whole site will be developed. And hopefully generate an income for the RNA to ensure it can run the Ekka, and the remaining site, efficiently into the future.

We do wonder if some of the planned densities and heights are too conservative though. Most new buildings seem to be proposed as 8 storey with just one lot of 20 levels. Sites close to heritage buildings couldn’t be included and we do need sunlight and a sense of space. But with such easy access to the full amenities of the inner city isn’t this one of those opportunities for thinking big?

When that first Ekka was held in 1876 Brisbane’s population numbered just 22,000. Now that our city has almost 100 times the residents our key inner city landholdings like the RNA showgrounds need forethought like we’ve never used before.

We’d love to hear your comments.

draft planning for the RNA showgrounds redevelopment

draft planning for the RNA showgrounds redevelopment

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Posted in Brisbane's future & new infrastructure, Inner Brisbane events, architecture and renovation | No Comments »

Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 5 July 2009

Life in the ‘burbs isn’t for everyone. The trimmed hedges, rolling front lawns and brick lowsets may be perfect for some but, for others, they’re a nightmare of endless mowing and maintenance. If the idea of a 40-minute commute sucks the life right out of you, here are some tips on finding an affordable home in the city.

Look for the uglies. Real estate is like a high school dance and the pretty ones do go first, and for higher prices. Why? Because most of us can’t use our imaginations (or are too lazy). Simple, really simple, renos and 5 tins of paint can make a massive difference to the purchase price. We’ve seen $3,000 spruce-ups add $30,000 to value – and more often than you’d think. If your housewarming needs to be a cocktail affair with the place looking schmick you mightn’t agree – but it can be just as much fun to invite friends over for a ‘paint and pizza’ night!

Brisbane’s inner city is full of brick apartment buildings from the 1980s and earlier. These were the days when only investors bought in the city – and they weren’t winning awards for their stunning architecture. In many cases the buildings look tired and there are no ensuites, lifts or gyms. On the plus side, they often have big rooms and great locations – and the renovation tasks are manageable on a budget. Think carpet, paint, window dressings and the kitchen when you can afford it.

Try Highgate Hill, Paddington, Bowen Hills (an area that’s got an enormous future) or Spring Hill. Old high-rises may not be fashionable property but they’re almost always close to transport and shops. When you get to sell there’ll be a ready market of investors and first home buyers – regardless of the ups and downs that might slow sales of other property.

Train-spotter? You will save big money if you buy alongside one of our many train lines, and if you pick the line (avoiding the freight routes) it can be okay. Main roads are another option but in our experience this noise is more constant and harder to live with. With either rail or roads it will take you longer to sell when the time comes as your pool of willing buyers is that bit smaller.

Those tight-budgeted house buyers needn’t give up either. Some of the ‘transition’ suburbs like the ‘Gabba, East Brisbane and Kelvin Grove have a reasonable number of affordable homes. You might have to live near a panel beater or a wholesaler for a time but this is Brisbane’s inner city and change will come sooner than you think.

# We wrote this article for the real estate pages of ourbrisbane.com

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Posted in Brisbane's sales market, Highgate Hill, Woolloongabba, architecture and renovation | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 16 August 2007

The 131st Royal Queensland Show (the “Ekka”) wraps up this weekend and as one of inner Brisbane’s largest land holders we took a look beyond the Dagwood Dogs and cake cooking competitions…

The RNA Showgrounds covers some 22 hectares (5 ½ acres) in Bowen Hills and the site’s been home to the Ekka since 1876. That first show attracted 17,000 people, an incredible effort given Brisbane’s population at the time was just 22,000! They’ve missed just two Ekka’s since, in 1919 due to an outbreak of Spanish Influenza (this year’s city-wide sniffles is nothing to sneeze at by comparison) and 1942 when the army occupied the land.

The old Queensland Museum was once part of the RNA, handed over to the government in 1899 to settle some debts. The Association’s in pretty good financial shape now, utilising its venues for much more than just the Ekka by hosting over 500,000 people at 237 different events throughout last year. And the future for this mammoth city landholding? The RNA has a masterplanning process underway that might see other uses on parts of the land.

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Posted in Brisbane's future & new infrastructure, Inner Brisbane events | 1 Comment »

Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 2 May 2007

apartment livingMany apartment investors set a 2 bedroom minimum for their home hunt and in doing so bypass a large part of the inner city’s market. With our household size still shrinking due to divorce and lower fertility and death rates, we need to keep an eye on what demand there is for each type of home. Prominent researcher Michael Matusik this week claimed that people living alone would soon (probably within 15 years) represent Australia’s largest household type. In New Farm, Bowen Hills and the Valley lone person households already occupy more than 40% of dwellings.

So which is the better investment apartment – 1 bedroom or 2? There’s no question 1 bedrooms are cheaper for tenants. In the 1st quarter of this year median rent for a 2 bedroom in the inner city was $350, while a 1 bedder was just $250. Unless tenants intend to share or somehow make permanent use of the 2nd bedroom it’s an expensive accessory. Any good property manager will tell you right now the smaller (read “cheaper”) apartments are definitely quicker off the mark, but much of the supply available is still skewed to 2 bedrooms. In the 1st three months of 2007 there were 2480 new bonds for rented 2 bedders and 1,704 for 1 bedrooms.

What about yield/returns and capital gain? If we could find reliable stats to measure this we’d be pretty smart cookies! As an example only, our two most recent sales were in the same Spring Hill building – a 2 bedroom sold with a gross return of 5.7% and a 1 bed with 5.5%. So we did the maths on capital gains in that same building. There’s been 12 re-sales of 1 bedroom apartments since completion in late 2005, at an average 23% gain. The 10 re-sales of 2 bedders have reaped their owners an average 16% increase in value. These apartments all had very similar outlooks and the same level of finish and amenity.

Like any marketplace there’ll be trends and shifts, but affordability and shrinking households suggest that while 2 bedrooms will continue to appeal to a broad market, 1 bedroom apartments might be a worthwhile investment for the inner city. And with the money you save you can always buy two properties (we are real estate agents after all!)

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Posted in Brisbane's rental market, Brisbane's sales market, Spring Hill, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »

Posted by admin on 7 March 2007

Single young male Brisbanites take note – our inner city is no place to meet ladies! Occasionally we see an interesting statistic from the ABS and their latest population figures show many of our inner suburbs have a big deficiency in resident females aged 20-39. Spring Hill is our worst, with 1.5 men for every woman in that age group! Bowen Hills (1.38) and the Valley (1.29) aren’t much better. If you want to stay reasonably close to town Albion’s your best bet, with just 0.83 men for each young lady.

ABS has confirmed Brisbane City Council is Australia’s fastest growing local authority, up another 14,000 residents in the year to June 2006. That’s now jumped almost 100,000 since 2001 (so that’s who’s drinking all our water!) New Farm is our most densely populated suburb with a massive 5,500 people per square kilometre, with Kangaroo Point not far behind at 5,200.

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Posted in Spring Hill, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »