Reply: 1.1
From: Sim' Hampel
On 6/6/02 12:11:00 PM, Nigel W wrote:
>I live in the area. what
>building is it in? there are
>quite a few going up at the
>moment.
Bit of an understatement there Nigel ;-)
At last count, there are 4 Meriton apartment blocks going up - Forum West is one, then there's the pre-fab high rise one next to it, with the bottom floor units looking straight out over the railway station platforms... great for train enthusiasts I suppose. Then there's that old 3 storey warehouse conversion, followed by another pre-fab high rise. These are literally right next to each other, so within about 300m from the Highway down Herbet St, there are no fewer than 8 high rise apartment blocks.
Australand are building one on Atchison Street about 50m from the Forum building, and there are several other smaller developments in the area right now.
There are plenty of stories around about people who lost money buying in the Forum building off the plan. I haven't followed priced there, I would imagine they have gone up in value recently, but there is a massive oversupply coming online very soon, which I don't think will be absorbed particularly quickly. Rents in the Forum building dropped pretty dramatically last year too, but I haven't followed them closely enough to know what they are doing now.
There are still plans to sell off the old hospital buildings along Herbet street, they will possibly be zoned commercial, but then there is a heap of space behind the railway station (eastern side of the line), which I would bet is owned by one of Meriton, Australand or Mirvac (who have several low-rise blocks down Lithgow St.)!
>Also, does it have a carspace?
>That's not a bad price if it
>does (not spectacular but
>okay). If not TOO pricey.
>Add a carspace is about
>20-40pw more rent and about
>30-50K on price.
With all the commercial development happening in St. Leonards at the moment too, there is a massive shortage of parking around.
>If it's in the vicinty of the
>train station then its also
>very close to Royal North
>Shore Hospital (althogh query
>whether nurses could afford
>$350pw??)
Most nurses I know can not afford that kind of rent. They all seem to live out in the Ryde area, with a large number of them in the hills district, and many even further out. I can't believe how little they get paid, considering how hard they work (being married to a nurse, I get to hear about it every night !!)
>Houses in the St
>Leonards/Crows Nest area are
>ridiculously expensive
>$600-950K
It gets worse as you get closer to the water, or closer to Chatswood !