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Posts Tagged with Woolloongabba Brisbane

Posted by admin on 31 January 2011

Tucked away in an area of Woolloongabba the locals refer to as “The Pocket” sits a community garden established by residents and created to provide an opportunity for those interested to meet socially and learn about growing organic produce.

The community group meets every Sunday from 3pm for a working bee to maintain and build the garden. New members are always welcome and you can join for free by just showing up on a Sunday afternoon and pitching in or by emailing clytieb@gmail.com. As a member you get the benefit of picking fresh, organic produce from the garden, meeting new friends and learning about a range of organic gardening activities.

Despite the gardens Preston Street location and proximity to the creek it has remained relatively unscathed from the recent Brisbane floods. So the priorities of the group remain unchanged. At the moment they are looking to establish a worm farm, increase their compost production and create the means with which they can become self sufficient with water supply. If you would like to support any of these ventures but are time poor and not able to go to the working bees I recommend you contact Clytie on the above email address if you think you can help in other ways.

For those of you with young children there is also a small group of parents that meet at the garden on Monday mornings at 9:30 with their children to catch up for a chat and so their children can play in the fresh air. Sometimes the children get a chance to plant some seedlings, water the garden or pick some of the produce for lunch. Feel free to join in if you would like to meet other parents in the area.

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Posted in Woolloongabba, just for fun! | No Comments »

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 admin on 18 December 2009

Our MD Rob writes a regular column for the property pages of OurBrisbane.com Here’s the latest:

Brisbane apartmentIf life is like a box of chocolates, Brisbane’s inner city is the variety pack! Property investors can choose from modern studio apartments for $140,000 or six-pack style apartments from the 1970’s for $350,000. Modern high-rise apartments range from $350,000 to $7 million. Or for those who crave their own piece of dirt, houses are generally priced from $500,000 upwards.

As a property investor do you see yourself as a small business person? You should. Your annual rental income will likely be $25,000 or more, so it’s worth having a good hard look at the rental marketplace and working out what product offering you’re going to make.

Some people dream of owning a riverfront penthouse, but for rental returns they’re lousy. There are not many tenants wanting to spend $2000 per week. Median priced homes are the safest territory as this is where the majority of people live. Around the CBD and surrounding suburbs the going rate is $430-$520/week for a 2-bedroom apartment. Have a look at www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au for median rents in all inner city suburbs.

Tenants don’t have the long term focus of a buyer, so while future improvements like new bridges, tunnels or new shops are all a key part of your capital gain plans, they’re not going to earn more rent for you today. A suburb like Woolloongabba might not earn top rent today, but what if that new subway goes ahead with a station in the suburb linking it directly to the CBD’s Riverside Centre?

We see investing in property as a balancing act, capital gains being the main aim and rental returns important to your holding costs.

So why choose the inner city over a modern house in the ‘burbs? Like many purchasing decisions your location choice is probably more about your own needs than the final property you buy. Is it a set-and-forget investment where you have minimal involvement? Or do you want to add value to the property by spending your weekends labouring at plastering walls or back-breaking paint work? (Okay so I’m giving away some bias here!). Your decision will vary too if you’ll want to make the place your own home one day.

What the inner city clearly offers investors is Brisbane’s largest rental market. We survey tenants regularly and a home’s proximity to their workplace always ranks highly in their decision making.

The CBD is our largest workplace by a country mile, with St Lucia’s University campus also a massive pool of potential tenants. We don’t believe rental returns will make you rich but, for peace of mind, keeping your cash input to a minimum, and simply having the largest choice of potential occupants, it’s hard to beat the inner city.

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Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Brisbane's sales market, Woolloongabba | No 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 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 »