First Development - 8 Units in St Kilda East

Hi Everyone

I'm interested in people's thoughts on the draft concept plans(attached) for a 8 unit development I'm doing in St Kilda East. Plans have been amended to meet councils initial concerns however they still need a bit of work to add the internals and rearrange the bedrooms to maximize the space available.

My initial thoughts are:
Do away with the lift & relocate bin area to turn ground floor unit into a 2 bedder. I want to keep the construction costs down and don't see the need for a lift when there is no basement. This should also make space available on floor 1 & 2 & keep body corp fees down.

Add a small en-suite to the larger 2 bedders. 2+2 Units sell & rent well in this area.

Add a bedroom to Unit 1.2, will be tight however 2 bedders at 65sq seem to be the norm these days in the inner suburbs. A new development a few doors down the road on the same street sold a 3 bedder that was 68sq for $645k.

Extend the terrace areas for the top 2 units.

Other ideas/comments?

Thanks also to Oscar & Huss for their great work to date on this development.

Thanks everyone.
 

Attachments

  • Ground.pdf
    123.4 KB · Views: 337
  • First.pdf
    86.7 KB · Views: 260
  • second.pdf
    76.5 KB · Views: 219
Random question out of curiousity as I haven't done any development myself - wouldn't it be more profitable to make the apartments slightly bigger as there aren't many on the market (at least not as much as smaller ones) and thus be able to sell these for more of a premium? Would the numbers not stack up?
 
Smaller is better since people pay more per sqm for smaller units...of course you need more smallr units to make the numbers work though.
 
Smaller is better since people pay more per sqm for smaller units...of course you need more smallr units to make the numbers work though.
Aaron has hit the nail on the head here. It's a fine balance between number of units and size. We are at our limit from a number of units perspective due to parking requirements. We could always look at using car stackers but to tell you the truth i want to keep the build time, cost to a minimum.
 
Looks like a great project.

I agree that a lift is not required BUT you need to see how that is done in context with the design

So you would either
a. remove lift and move the stairs over to that side so that it relates to the entrance lobby and move bin storage over to G.1 side. This does not gain you the extra bedroom that you desire but is the easiest. You could potentially make G.1 a three bedroom though maybe or a 2 bed x 2 bath.
b. leave stairs where they are and move entrance lobby to that side

Assuming you do A then there is now the extra space on First floor which you can:
a. use to create an ensuite to B1 in 1.1 and 1.4 so that they are 2 x 2
b. shuffle 1.1 and 1.4 around to take up the stair space and create more room for 1.2 and 1.3 so a second bedroom is possible.
 
Aaron has hit the nail on the head here. It's a fine balance between number of units and size. We are at our limit from a number of units perspective due to parking requirements. We could always look at using car stackers but to tell you the truth i want to keep the build time, cost to a minimum.

Do what works best financially and wrt your intent and exit.

Will you be keeping all of these, selling (all or some)?

Sometimes building more doesn't necessarily yield a greater profit if the construction to another level is too costly and you need to dig a basement or have a stacker. Also don't make them too small that you compromise what the buying demographic wants there. I'm sure you've done your homework and DD in this regard.

I'm guessing this is south of Balaclava rd/Carlisle st by the name of the main road this is on. Probably around Grosvernor or The Ave. I would hasten a guess that the market on a main road there wouldn't demand a lift. If you were b/w Hotham and Orrong and further northi n the Balaclava Rd and Inkerman St precinct, then a more up market product would be needed.

Do what suits your pockets, risk and exit strategy.

Good luck :)
 
And 1.2 I would put the kitchen where the study is and where the kitchen is put the study/bedroom as you could then have a window to outside.
 
Do what works best financially and wrt your intent and exit.

Will you be keeping all of these, selling (all or some)?

Sometimes building more doesn't necessarily yield a greater profit if the construction to another level is too costly and you need to dig a basement or have a stacker. Also don't make them too small that you compromise what the buying demographic wants there. I'm sure you've done your homework and DD in this regard.

I'm guessing this is south of Balaclava rd/Carlisle st by the name of the main road this is on. Probably around Grosvernor or The Ave. I would hasten a guess that the market on a main road there wouldn't demand a lift. If you were b/w Hotham and Orrong and further northi n the Balaclava Rd and Inkerman St precinct, then a more up market product would be needed.

Do what suits your pockets, risk and exit strategy.

Good luck :)

At this stage plan is to sell all.

Yes this is south of Carlisle St, closer to Ripponlea, Glen Eira Rd. Recent changes to the Glen Eira Planning Scheme mean that future Multi Unit Developments along Hotham Street will be limited because of increased rear setbacks.

Lucky we had our plans in days before the changes were ratified by council. If we were to lodge now the best we could of hoped for would be 4 or 5 units.
 
Why not have more units on the top floor to increase yield. Density restrictions or car parking limitations?

At the max building area due to setbacks and parking is an issue unless i use stackers or apply for a parking dispensation.

I'm happy with an approx 35% return.
 
Hi Everyone

I'm interested in people's thoughts on the draft concept plans(attached) for a 8 unit development I'm doing in St Kilda East. Plans have been amended to meet councils initial concerns however they still need a bit of work to add the internals and rearrange the bedrooms to maximize the space available.

My initial thoughts are:
Do away with the lift & relocate bin area to turn ground floor unit into a 2 bedder. I want to keep the construction costs down and don't see the need for a lift when there is no basement. This should also make space available on floor 1 & 2 & keep body corp fees down.

Add a small en-suite to the larger 2 bedders. 2+2 Units sell & rent well in this area.

Add a bedroom to Unit 1.2, will be tight however 2 bedders at 65sq seem to be the norm these days in the inner suburbs. A new development a few doors down the road on the same street sold a 3 bedder that was 68sq for $645k.

Extend the terrace areas for the top 2 units.

Other ideas/comments?

Thanks also to Oscar & Huss for their great work to date on this development.

Thanks everyone.


I think you've got a great site and definitely heading in the right direction.

If I were to be really critical ;) ,the multitude of internal corners and bends within some of the apartments does nothing to improve the sense of openness and attractiveness of the units. Also, there seems to be quite a few units where doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms are coming directly off a living space.. not pretty, especially in that part of town. In principle, try to get your doors coming off "secondary passage" areas.

As far as possible, I'd also try to get more living areas away from being south-facing. (Not sure where north is on your site though)

If I were to be more aggressive on the yield, I can see another 1bed/studio unit (Without car) within its current envelope, and also a "penthouse" type unit on another new third level with its access from the second floor.

The design finesse of your development and the quality of finish must be appropriate and relevant to your target market, area and returns. Oft times, we have seen the amount of effort (and money) invested in a development was not high enough to provide the expected rate of return.

Has your planning application been lodged with council? I ask because we had another project in Glen Eira where concept plans were shown and pre-apps were held, and council was "all fine and dandy". However, the plans were lodged after the new zoning regs became planning law, and they changed their tune completely.
 
Some good news. Council have given us notice that they approve the development. Just have to wait the 21 days now to ensure no objections at VCAT. Looking good so far.

Advertising Period commenced last Friday. Fingers crossed there are not many objections.
 
Some good news. Council have given us notice that they approve the development. Just have to wait the 21 days now to ensure no objections at VCAT. Looking good so far.

Good news. Hopefully you don't get too many objections where it then goes to the council and it gets political....but given it's Glen Eira I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
Sure here you go. Visually i think it looks good as you cannot see there are 9 car spaces behind the 2 apartments.


Simo - do you have a front elevation? I'm trying to imagine how awesome having the apartments over the car access point is.
 

Attachments

  • front1.png
    front1.png
    92.5 KB · Views: 245
Back
Top