Boom Property Group launches apartment complex in emerging Melbourne suburb of Caroline Springs

Boom Property Group is bringing more apartment living to a suburb that has become shorthand for house-and-land packages: Caroline Springs.

Caroline Springs, about 25 kilometres from Melbourne, has only had a post office since 2005, but property prices have been increasing rapidly. The average house price was $292,500 in 2007 and is now $420,000, according to RP Data.

"You cannot achieve the Melbourne dream of a three-bedroom house on a 500-square-metre block any closer to the city," demographer Bernard Salt told Fairfax Media about the area in 2007. "As fashionable as inner-city living like the Docklands is, there is still a large market for a suburban allotment - always has been and always will be."

Lend Lease project director Martin Gaedke told Fairfax Media in 2007 that although Caroline Springs buyers were beginning to buy smaller blocks due to affordability concerns, they still watned large homes.

"People still want relatively large houses," he said. "We've recently opened a display village here with more traditional housing, and there are still some very large homes in there. But I suppose over time, with the issue of housing affordability, people may start to review that. We're also finding block sizes may be reducing but houses are still very much the same size."

BPG’s Belise development will comprise 34 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit, ranging from 73 to 99 square metres. Prices for the two-bedroom units start from $391,000.

The development launched on Saturday, March 31.

“Caroline Springs has become one of the most-sought after suburbs in the west, yet rising house prices means buying in the area is now unattainable for many. We have sought to address this demand with Belise,” says BPG managing director George Mariotti.

The $15 million project is designed by Buro Architects to complement the surrounding environment of Caroline Springs.

“We strived to deliver a development that provides a sophisticated place of residence, from the entry lobby to the spacious apartment interiors, the considered design and high-quality materials flow through to achieve this,” says Paul von Chrismar, director of Buro Architects.

Construction is due to start in May or June 2012 and finish in May next year.

Belise is within walking distance of many community features, including shops, schools and walking tracks.

BPG specialises in city-fringe locations and has already developed the
$7 million Waterford Apartments project in Caroline Springs in November 2011.