Northbank Place has been developed on the site of the former Melbourne Fish Market which was demolished in the 1950’s. This valuable site was then used as a car park and a lock up yard for impounded vehicles until its extensive transformation.
The three towers that now reside on the site which cost approximately $200 Million, all have retail shops on the ground level. The east tower is an office tower consisting of 10 stories. Due to the overwhelming success of pre sales of the Central tower which contains 196 apartments over 15 stories they decided that the West tower which was originally meant to be offices was to be residential tower consisting of 188 apartments over 17 stories including a one 3 bedroom penthouse.
Attractions Near By:
The leafy oasis, Batman Park is a great place for residents and business owners to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city beat. Just behind Northbank Place on the banks of the river.
Observation Decks;
The Rialto observation deck which was opened in 1994 (One of Melbourne’s longest standing attractions) and standing 253 meters tall. www.rialto.com.au
Or you have one of Melbourne’s newest attractions, The Eureka Sky deck, one of the highest viewing platforms in the Southern Hemisphere. Eureka’s greatest attraction is the `Edge` which is a glass cube that extends out 3 meters from the building, leaving you suspended almost 300 meters above the ground. http://www.skydeck.com.au
Being within 100 meters of Crown Casino Complex makes everything so much easier. There are a variety of different stores, bars, restaurant along with Village cinemas and of course the Casino gambling floor. If you want everything in place you have it a stone’s throw away from your apartment. www.crowncasino.com.au/
Melbourne aquarium is the most state of the art aquarium in Australia and it is right next door. A must see is the 360 degree display that houses sharks and stingrays. Not to be missed is the live feeding. Also a must see is the Great Barrier Reef exhibit, the touch pools and the colourful coral tropical creatures. www.melbourneagauarium.com.au
Construction Underway: The closest development, 567 Collins Street. Will be home to an exciting 33 storey office building. The developers APN Property & Leighton Property expect completion in 2011.
The development at 567 Collins Street has been embraced by investors & owner occupiers. The completion of the building along with the recently developed, $110 million dollar headquarters of The Age adds further value to the cities gate way to the Docklands providing more opportunities to secure new tenants or prospective purchasers when the time comes. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/13/1197135597809.html?page=fullpage
Demographics: Given the relevant youth of the building and the off the plan sale of Northbank Place has shown a higher percentage of Investor owned apartments. The majority of the apartments are tenanted and there’s a small number that are owner occupied. These numbers will start to balance out as the building ages and original owners on sell.
Forecast for the 09-10 Financial Year:
We expected to see possible leveling of the market as the increased first home owners incentives ceased and as interest rate speculation caused nerves in the market. However this has not been the case. The market has started much stronger than we’d anticipated, we’ve again had several record setting prices achieved and our company reported a record month in January and the beat it again in February. We have seen a change in the demographic of the buyer which was expected. There has been a definite return to the market by investors, they’d been pushed out of the market by the frenzy of first home buyers but are now back in the market on a more level playing field. We now expect we’ll see an upward swing of figures for the first half 2010. We are still in the midst of a rental crisis and we expect rents during the first half of 2010 will continue to rise, Melbourne’s rapidly rising population is a strong factor here.
Dionne Wilson
Director – Harcourts City Residential
Ph: 03 9664 8100 03 9664 8100 Mob: 0417 318 705 0417 318 705
Email: dionne.wilson@harcourts.com.au
Web: www.dionnewilson.harcourts.com.au
www.cityresidential.harcourts.com.au
*Harcourts City Residential has gathered this information to provide an interesting document for apartment owners and prospective purchasers. Harcourts City Residential may not have affected any or all of the transactions noted; rather we’ve gathered as much market information as possible on ALL transactions to be as conclusive as possible.
Information contained herein is gathered from a range of sources including but not limited to; The Age Property Results, The Herald Sun Property Results, Valuer General Information & Agents own investigations. All efforts are made to verify the information provided. The information is not to be relied upon or used in dealings with third parties and people should make their own investigations regarding their own property or personal circumstances. Opinions offered are just that, our opinions & observations and should not be treated as fact.
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