Thanks guys for your respective responses, see mine below....
@ Melbournian
Yes, agree that 505 St Kilda road is a higher quality development. The 2br we were looking at there was like buying 'the smallest house on the best street' or so it seemed if I can use that metaphor. We were about to buy a property there but had a bad experience with the agent and the vendor, i.e. agent misleading us on price, vendor being evasive on amending one-sided conditions in contract and ultimately then upping the price on us. We made a final offer, but they declined.
@Aaron_C
Yes, Chapel Street appears to have had better days now with seemingly only major labels and not the eclectic mix of smaller/boutique brands that I'm told it used to be. Coincidentally, a long-term Melbournian/Sydney friend of ours commented recently to us that was surprised how botany and feral it gets on weekend evenings. We agree. Not the area that I thought it was when we leased almost a year ago at Society on Bray Street.
@Buzzlightyear
Hi Buzz, we're really not sure either with Clara St. It was # 2 on our shortlist (i.e. 1st was 505 St Kilda Road, 2nd Clara St, 3rd Elm @ 22 Dorcas Street). We're looking ultimately for a demographic with less rental and more owner occupancy as this makes a huge difference in the feel and ageing of a building. The 'Society' is a nightmare to live in purely because it's more of a club-med lifestyle building being nearby nightclubs and residents allow doors to slam regularly which can be disruptive especially on weekends when many residents tend to come home between 2-3am after being out. We also get a lot of bogany types hanging around the front of the building on Friday/Sat/Sun nights and noise travels up the building.
We're trying to find somewhere upper-middle class, owner-occupied and same-sex friendly.
Ah, also, we looked at a large 1br at 1 Freshwater Place in Southbank but recoiled when we discovered Queensbridge Tower was going up 8 metres from one side of the building. We think it will hurt property values, but it was a beautiful development.
Any suggestions?