Recent Brisbane Apartment Sales

iStay River City - 79 Albert St

Apt 1201, 1 bed, 1 bath - sold on 27 July for $335,000

Charlotte Towers - 128 Charlotte St

Apt 2404 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 27 July for $340,000
Apt 1201 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 18 July for $365,000
Apt 4403 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 29 May for $650,000
Apt 2803 - 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 2 May for $495,000

Skyline - 30 Macrossan St

Apt 53 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 27 July for $603,000
Apt 193 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 2 June for $618,500
Apt 31 - sold on 16 May for $750,000

M on Mary - 70 Mary St

Apt 1205 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 2 July for $322,500
Apt 4302 - 5 bed, 3 bath, 3 car - sold on 31 May for $1.9M
Apt 1009  - 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 26 May for $365,000
Apt 506  - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 10 May for $395,000

Festival Towers - 108 Albert St

Apt 3807 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 30 June for $516,000
Apt 1503 - 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 25 June for $460,000
Apt 4007 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 10 June for $541,000
Apt 704 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 5 June for $298,500
Apt 2610 - 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 3 June for $400,000
Apt 905 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 2 June for $319,500
Apt 2510 - 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - sold on 22 May for $350,000
Apt 2301 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 9 May for $525,000
Apt 508 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 8 May for $475,000

Felix - 26 Felix St

Apt 217 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 29 June for $580,000

Riverplace - 82 Boundary St

Apt 92 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 27 June for $645,000
Apt 147 - 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 23 June for $551,000
Apt 52 - 2 bed, 1 bath, 2 car - sold on 7 May for $650,000

Admiralty Towers One - 35 Howard St

Apt 44 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 8 June for $810,000
Apt 146, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 12 May for $585,000

Infinity - 43 Herschel St

Apt 3807 - sold on 27 May for $400,000
Apt 4303 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 26 May for $630,000
Apt 6304 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 20 May for $640,000

212 Margaret St

Apt 82 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 26 May for $555,000

Admiralty Quays - 32 Macrossan St

Apt 137 - 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars - sold on 12 May for $1,100,000
Apt 34 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 2 May for $850,000

Riparian - 71 Eagle St

Apt 4302 - 1 bed, 2 bath, 2 car - sold on 8 May for $1.5M

Admiralty Towers Two - 501 Queen St

Apt 166 - 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car sold on 28 April for $979,900

Aurora - 420 Queen St

Apt 301 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - sold on 26 April for $627,500

Quay West - 132 Alice St

Apt 103 - 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - sold on 24 April for $510,000

New hotel in Mary Street

Currently under construction, but almost complete, at 103 Mary Street is a new hotel, to be branded as a Four Points by Sheraton.  It is 33 storeys.  It is impacting the views of River City and 212 Margaret, both which are neighbouring apartment buildings.  It is also adjacent to the 111+222 site in Mary/Margaret Street.

103 Mary Street is the second building from the left.  212 Margaret is on the left.  Quest River Park Central can be seen second from the right.

111+222 Hole plus 103 Mary Street

Photo today of the 111+222 hole (still with water) and the demolition site for 103 Mary Street.  You can see 212 Margaret Street in the background and River Park Central to the right.

Pets in Apartments

Another decision concerning the keeping of a small dog in an apartment -- Arbour on Grey.  Here, the dog owner was unsuccessful.  But the decision confirms that it is not appropriate to have a "dog free" building.

If conditions are imposed, they must be reasonable.  See the recent 212 Margaret decision. The following conditions in the bylaws were struck down as unreasonable:

• the pet does not weight (sic) more than ten (10) kilograms.
• only one animal is to be kept within the lot.
• the body corporate shall be entitled to withdraw its consent and require removal of the pet upon receiving two (2) substantiated complaints regarding the pet or the owner breaches any of the conditions of the approval.

I am always amazed that some body corporates want to ban pets.  It just deceases the pool of possible buyers, and thus deceases the value of their apartments.

111-222 Billbergia Apartment Tower Approved

The Brisbane City Council has approved the massive 111-222 apartment and hotel tower for Brisbane.  (See prior post here.)

There will be two towers as part of this development.  The large tower will be 90 storeys, located at 222 Margaret Street.  It will be a hotel from level 5 to level 21, and apartments from level 24 to level 88.  This building, if constructed, will be the tallest in Brisbane according to Brisbane Times.  If you want to buy an apartment, you can register on this website:  www.111plus222.com

The second smaller tower will be commercial office space, located at 111 Mary Street.

These two towers will have a major impact on the apartment building located at 212 Margaret St next door, and will also impact some views from Charlotte Towers.

Ray White Auction

From Ray White:  "The Urban Living Group auctions were held last Saturday at The Emporium Hotel where 52 properties went up for sale under the hammer.  A great day was had with a crowd of over 200 people attending the event and 79 registered bidders on the day.  The auctions kicked off with a bang selling 7 out of the first 8 properties, with 13 out of the 26 in the first section selling at a 50% success rate. The second section of the day was far tougher with 7 out of the 26 properties selling under the hammer, but with negotiations on multiple properties we believe we will have over 80% sold by the end of next week."

Charlotte Towers

Apt 3101 sold for $313,000 (1 bed, no car)

Aurora

Apt 236 passed in at $490,000, now listed for sale at $525,000 (2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car)

Apt 458 passed in at $450,000, now listed for sale at $480,000 (2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car)

Apt 534 passed in at $925,000

212 Margaret

Apt 2103 passed in at $340,000, now listed at $375,000 (1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car)

Admiralty Quays

Apt 67 at 32 Macrossan St did not sell at $560,000 (1 bed, 1 bath), but now listed as sold.

Mary Street Development

Demolition work has started on the 103 Mary St apartment hotel development.  It is located next door to the 111 Mary St "hole" that was to be the Vision building.

The 103 Mary Street development is 32 floors high, and will kill the views from the rear apartments in 212 Margaret St and in some of the Devine River City apartments.

In the photo below, 212 Margaret can be seen on the left and River City on the right.

103 Mary Street - new development

This is a rendering of the new apartment hotel complex being constructed at 103 Mary Street, between the 111+222 hole and RiverCity apartments. 212 Margaret St is shown at the rear. So some people will have their views impacted.

A New Vision 111+222

A new development application has been lodged for the Vision site (where the Vision building was planned, with many apartments over $1M being sold off-the-plan in 2006 to 2009).

The new development consists of two buildings, and is called 111+222. It is located on 111 Mary St and 222 Margaret St. Registrations are already being taken for off-the-plan sales.

222 Margaret St Tower:

•The taller tower is currently known as 222 Margaret Street and is 90 levels (297m) in height.
•A 5 star 380 room hotel is proposed for this tower, however the hotel operator is not yet known.
◦The hotel will have a ballroom.
•The tower will mostly comprise of 790 one, two and three bedroom residential apartments over the 90 floors.
•Restaurants & bars will be situated throughout the project with a key cross block link from Mary to Margaret Street to be established in stage 1.
•Depending on if the tower's 297m height is AGL (above ground level), 222 Margaret St will share the title of Australia's tallest tower with Eureka Tower - currently the tallest in Australia.
•It is not yet known if there will be an observation deck at the top - similar to what it's predecessor, Vision had.

111 Mary St Tower:
•111 Margaret St tower is the smallest of the two, rising 34 levels.
•This tower will be completely office.
•AMP Capital is funding this part of the development
•980 car spaces will be built across eight underground levels.
The development has been designed by Bates Smart Architects and boasts a glass cylinder like design for the taller building. Billbergia will lodge the development application this week after releasing the plans to the media.

See Brisbane Times and Brisbane Development and Courier Mail.

The development is receiving significant interest.

It will have an impact on a number of apartment buildings, especially 212 Margaret next door, and will block views from Charlotte Towers to the park.


Updated Post: Click Here.

AMP Capital Steps In To Vision Site

AMP Capital has provided financing to property developer Billbergia Group to allow it to acquire the Vision site in Brisbane (next door to 212 Margaret Street) from Austcorp, which is in liquidation. The purchase price for the hole that was to be the 72 storey Vision apartment building was $40 million.

Oaks In Financial Troubles?

Oak's financial model is very precarious. Oaks makes its profit from renting apartments owned by others. All owners of apartments that Oaks manage as their real estate agent can terminate their appointment of Oaks on 90 days notice or less.

Extension to Finance Facilities

Oaks has successfully obtained an extension of its finance facilities to 28 February 2011 as it works through a refinancing process. Oaks' debt levels as at 31 December 2010 is approximately $76 million. Oaks is trying to raise not less than $15 million to be applied towards debt reduction.

Receivers appointed to one of Oaks' substantial shareholders

On 27 January 2011, a notice was lodged with ASX by the receives and managers of The Oaks Apartment Management Pty Ltd and Centrepoint Holdings Pty Ltd, companies associated with the CEO of Oaks, Mr Brett Pointon. These two companies hold over 36% of Oaks' share capital.

Oaks' shares dropped 23% on Friday. See The Age & Courier Mail story.

Colin Archer from Archers Body Corporate Services is a director of Oaks.

Oaks is the onsite caretaker and letting agent for Charlotte Towers, Festival Towers, Casino Towers and Felix.

Oaks profit crashed from $9.7m (2009) to $3.9M (2010). As a result, Oaks did some restructuring, including centralisation of all reservations (which is not always good for the landlords who have appointed Oaks to manage their apartment) and the formation of Housekeepers Pty Ltd as a profit centre in its own right to replace external cleaners and lift levels of service (which sounds like an admission that housekeeping and maintenance was not well done in the past). This raises issues for the body corporate and owners, if the onsite caretaker (Oaks) is contracting Housekeepers to do maintenance paid for by the body corporate.

Brett Pointon's company, Collections Enterprises Pty Ltd, purchased 4 management rights from Oaks in 2009, including 212 Margaret, which was badly damaged in the flood, and Lexicon.

Lots of related party transactions. Not good financial management by Pointon. He is trumpeted as the brains behind Oaks. Sounds like one should avoid doing business with Oaks or investing in Oaks!

From the Oaks website:

"The principles and ethics that firmly ground The Oaks Group were laid down by CEO Brett Pointon over many years of personal experience in strata-titled property management. The group’s impressive increase in its portfolio of properties under management since its foundation in the early 1990’s is thus anchored to astute knowledge of this unique industry. Known for his pro-active, hands on approach, Brett Pointon leads by example, creating an environment in which innovation in marketing is balanced by the utilisation of proven strategic planning systems."

Flood Building Update From Readers

212 Margaret Street still out of power, energex is talking about getting in a generator. Plus the lift shaft seems to be damaged so no go on the lifts either at the moment! No one can tell me when it will be up and running but it doesn't look good to be honest - apparently there was a lot of damage downstairs and a great deal of debris.

Riverplace Apartments maintained electrical power during the floods, so the basement carpark sustained only a few inches of water and no forced evacuation.

Admiralty Towers One - building evacuation still in force; at least 48 hours to occupancy. Lifts not working.

All services to Admiralty Quays have now been restored including all four levels of car parking in the basement.

Admiralty Two: There is still some water in the high rise lift well, and Kone cannot bring lifts into service until this water is completely drained. Owners who live in the high rise may use the low rise lifts to go to level 21, then use the fire escape to access their level. Our security guard will be on duty tonight. He has a fob for high rise owners to access level 21. Priority will be given to get at least one high rise lift operational tomorrow (Wednesday).

Water's Edge: The Developer has been working with us to clear the basements and this has nearly been completed. The cleanup in the basement should begin Tuesday 18/1/11. There is damage to the electrical boards that were located in the basement, however the repairs are expected to begin as soon as possible.

Emporium Valley: Operating normally with exception of Toulouse North Tower where power is yet to be re-instated and lift access restored. We are hopeful power will be back by Wednesday this week.

Oaks Festival Towers: Still pumping water from basement on Wednesday afternoon.

KoKo West End: Basement flooded and building evacuated

Left Bank, West End: Basement badly flooded

120 Mary Street: "Unfortunately due to flood damage the Quest River Park Central is currently closed. It is hoped to have the building back open by mid next week; however no date can be provided at this point. More information to be posted as it comes to us. "

Private property developer Mark Stockwell said the group's Riverpoint apartments at West End had water in the basement. The floodwaters did not reach the residential floors. "The water has now all been pumped out and there was some damage to the electricals, which is now being fixed."

Brisbane Floods

With the flood water going down, the clean up is starting. Many Brisbane apartment buildings were impacted by the floods -- basement carparks full of water and mud; no electricity; residents evacuated.

Some of the buildings that have significant water in their basements include:

• Admiralty Towers
• Admiralty Two
• Admiralty Quays "we only had minor flooding in the lower level of the basement (about 50cm deep)"
• Riverplace
• Riparian (access tunnel to carparks - carparks are above ground level)
• Felix
• 212 Margaret
• Festival Towers
• River City
• Vue at Milton
• Water's Edge
• Flow
• SL8
• Parklands Sherwood
• Fresh Toowong
• Encore Toowong
• Arbour on Grey at South Bank
• Tennyson Reach
• Most apartments on the river at St Lucia
• the list goes on

Pradella writes about Parklands at Sherwood: "Sadly this site has experienced quite a lot of damage. The Outlook – which are the entertainment facilities has been completely submerged by water. The car park under Jacaranda and Brookline is also completely submerged. Whilst floodwaters did not reach the interior of the apartment buildings, it did however breach a number of houses and townhouses. The entire complex was evacuated late on Wednesday afternoon. Power has been cut and access to the property restricted."

and about Waters Edge:

"There has been significant damage to the pool and the grounds however the water from the river has NOT entered the building. The car park under the building has flooded, and all residents evacuated. Power has been cut."

Admiralty Towers has it status (current evacuated) on its website.

I am amazed that the Council allows buildings to be built with basements that flood, forcing loss of power and residents to be evacuated. See also this article.

I am not sure how the floods will impact property prices in Queensland. After the 1974 floods, the prices of impacted houses decreased for a period. There will be a shortage of rental accommodation, as many people are looking for places to live. Foreign press is reporting on its nationals being evacuated -- see for example, this article from Singapore and Malaysia -- and QUT and UQ were flooded, which will not be good news for those trying to attract foreign students to Brisbane.

On the positive side, it could have been much worse. Only one person died in Brisbane, and the flood levels were lower than initially expected.

Pets in 212 Margaret

As reported in a prior post, there was a decision relating to pets in 212 Margaret apartment building in Brisbane. Here is the Decision.

It is interesting to read the submissions of some apartment owners who tried to prevent pets in other people's apartments. Maybe we should have a rule that says no children and TVs in their apartments. I have lived in expensive apartments in other cities where most people have pets. Some people in Brisbane are quite backwards! It is also strange that people have argued that there should be no pets because the building is being used (illegally) as a hotel!

"Jo Anast, owner of Lot 81, says she would like the possibility of having pets in the scheme and is in favour of the application.

Shane Doepel and Shaun Stevens, owners of Lot 31, say that the building is not suitable for housing pets in any circumstances, being a high-density CBD residential development. Most of the units are let as part of a very busy hotel. The scheme only has “modest common areas.” Owners who are buying into the scheme do so knowing that there is a “no pets” policy which in their case influenced their decision to buy.

Frank and Marilyn Moes, owners of Lot 61 (unit 1501) say that they purchased because of the “no pets” policy. They do not believe that living in the city is an appropriate environment for animals such as dogs and cats. There are no immediate close areas where a dog can be exercised, and dogs and cats should not be in all day but have a yard to play in and access to fresh air. Mr Moes also has an allergy to animal hair.

Rachel Findlay, owner of Lot 23 (unit 805) supports the application, believing it unreasonable to ban all pets. She has lived in CBD buildings which allow pets, and the animals have not been disruptive. In “Aurora” at 420 Queen Street, it is one of the reasons why the units are highly sought after. The body corporate should allow pets within reason such as pets below a certain weight/size.

Maria Barnett and Paul Schaller, owners of Lot 121 (unit 2701), say that before purchase they checked that pets were not allowed. He has severe allergies to dog and cat hair and would not be able to use the lifts or foyer if there was animal hair in the carpets. They say that in their experience with tenants, fish tanks can cause damage to carpets, clog drains and leave stains. The building is used as a hotel so a blanket ban on pets in not unreasonable. No matter how well- behaved pets are, they would cause extra work for the management and result in blocked-in balconies which would change the exterior of the building.

Verne Baistow, owner of Lot 95 (unit 2203) says that he supports a “no pets policy.” The units are too small to provide adequate room for an animal, and the units are used for hotel accommodation. “No animals are allowed in hotels” so there should not be any animals in the scheme building either. He is also concerned about health issues and noise.

Colin Yeoman and Louisa Farthing, owners of Lot 33 (room 1005) say that the registered by-law should remain as it is, since the building is inappropriate for the housing of pets.

Christine Torbey, owner of Unit 1801, says that the building is an inappropriate residence for pets, especially dogs and cats. Animals are unpredictable and it is not possible for an owner to control entirely an animal’s behaviour. She says that this is a “standard rule in city apartment blocks generally.”

Gregory Firth, owner of Unit 603 says that the scheme should not entertain pets at all."

Hotel To Block Apartment Views

A new highrise hotel complex is planned for downtown Brisbane. If built, it will be located next door to the Vision hole, and adjacent to 212 Margaret and River City Apartments. It will block views from apartments in both buildings, so take care!

It will be located at 103 Mary Street, and will be 32 storeys, with 230 apartments or hotel rooms, but only 53 car parks.

See Brisbane Times.

Pet Friendly Apartments

A resident of an apartment recently filed a dispute resolution request to an Adjudicator within the Body Corporate Commissioners Office in Brisbane, disputing the current status of the by-law in the residential high-rise building 212 Margaret Street, BRISBANE QLD 4000. The resident was protesting the total pet ban in the buildings by-laws.

Basically, the Adjudicator has upheld the protest that the 212 Margaret by-laws, which did not permit any pets at all, were invalid and unenforceable, and has ordered them changed to a permissive by-law. This dates back to a CCT ruling in 2008 (Tutton v Body Corporate for Pivital Point Residential) where the CCT magistrate ruled that total pet bans were unreasonable since certain species of animal could on no rational basis cause any difficulty to any other lot owner.

The Adjudicators have been ruling that total pet bans are invalid since that time (there are quite a few decisions it seems), and have forced Body Corporate's in every case since to alter their by-laws back to standard (animal/pet) permissive ones when an owner applies for Adjudication.

In addition, it appears there has been a further QCATA ruling in September 2010 -- McKenzie v Body Corporate for Kings Row Centre 28/09/2010 -- in which the tribunal decided that even by-laws that attempt to ban only a certain type of pet (cats and dogs) are also so unreasonable as to be effectively invalid and unenforceable. In that case, the disputed by-law was permissive of pets in general but attempted to outright ban only 'cats and dogs' specifically.

Essentially this all comes together to mean that a (or any! within a Community Titles Scheme) Body Corporate can no longer expect to ban pets (or any kind of pet) outright, even if they have already done so by voting in a ban/restrictive by-law, or even if the building was originally set up with a pet ban/restrictive by-law.

It also means that if anyone protests such a restriction, the Adjudicators will uphold their protest, allow the pet (if it's a reasonable request and there is no evidence of a reasonable reason the pet would be unsuited to the property), and forcibly change the by-law back to a permissive one. Just like they just did with 212 Margaret.

The flow on outcome from these rulings are clear: the face of Community Titles Schemes must now change - pets can no longer be banned, and Committees and Body Corporate's can no longer expect to stop people from bringing their pets to live with them in apartments, units or townhouses - unless they can provide reasonable grounds or evidence that the particular pet would be unsuited to the lot. From what I understand, this new thinking has already been tested multiple times in the Appeals process and the Adjudicators subsequent interpretation of this has also been made abundantly clear.

212 Margaret is now (forcibly) pet friendly.

Which is probably a good thing, because statistics I have seen show that apartment buildings that are pet friendly have more owner occupiers and have greater capital appreciation.

Risks With Short Term Rental Buildings

When I am looking to buy an apartment in Brisbane, I look at Trip Advisor to see if there are reviews about the apartment building and the onsite manager. As a general rule, if the apartment building is listed with TripAdvisor, I will only buy if I am seeking a non-residental investment. There is limited resale opportunities for short term non-residential buildings.

Example Reviews:

• 212 Margaret
• Casino Towers
• Aurora
• Charlotte Towers
• RiverCity
• M on Mary
• Evolution
• Felix
• Festival Towers
• Skyline

Many reviews highlight the problems -- these buildings were designed for residential apartment living, not as hotels. People ask for adjoining rooms, and don't get them (of course). Items from rooms are stolen. Linen trolleys and food trays are left in hallways, as there are no service cupboards or service rooms for hotel staff. Furniture breaks, as the apartments were furnished for residents, not using hotel quality furniture. No minibars. Parking problems. I wonder what the owners of these apartments think about their real estate agents who are managing their investment -- a real estate agent pretending to be a hotel company.

I love this recent review for Evolution: "What a disaster. We never new accomadation could be so foul .. so many light bulbs broken, Filthy carpets, No drinking glasses (even when you ring & ask a certain staff member who couldn't have been any more passive agressive they still don't come) We changed rooms which was even worse, kitchen tap fell off in our hand, no shower door as it had broken off, huge rip in the lounge, even filthier carpets, rug all ripped, more light bulbs out, TV not tuned so most of the channels hissed at you a lot like most of the staff.. broken light shades, blind pullies broken. When we checked in they held on our credit card $200 for breakages.. there was nothing left TO BREAK!! This place is not rateable unless there is a minus."

Why would anyone want to buy in this building?

103 Mary Street

A proposed new apartment at 103 Mary Street, between the Vision hole and River City. It will impact the views of River City and 212 Margaret Street.

Oaks 08/09 Results

Oaks Hotels & Resorts Ltd net profit was down 33.3% to $9.8 million in the year to June 30, 2009, on revenue up 11.5% to $120.9 million.

• 38 properties under management
• 4,788 serviced rooms under management (12% increase over last FY)
• occupancy rate down 2.11% to 84.38 for CBD properties
• average room rate $151 for CBD properties
• new central reservations team -- I wonder what owners are being charged for this?

Recent Brisbane Apartment Sales

• Admiralty Quays, Apt 164: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 cars - $2,200,000
• Admiralty Quays, Apt 90: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 car - $580,000
• 212 Margaret Street, Apt 47, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $465,000
• Willahra Towers, Apt 26, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car (76m2 internal, 36m2 external. Total area 112m2; white-goods included) - $435,000
  
• Parklands 3, Apt 4073: 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $365,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apt 2305: 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $354,000
• Casino Towers, Apt 3304: 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $339,998
• River City, Apt 1005: 1 bedroom, no car, view straight into neighbouring building - $305,000