Cheltenham moving towards apartments and townhouses
The Melbourne bayside suburb of Cheltenham is following in the footsteps of the inner-city market, developing a new apartment complex – to be known as No.9 – and a townhouse project named Central Park.
No.9 is the latest $18 million boutique project by Launch Corporation.
No.9 is currently 35% sold.
Offering one- and two-bedroom apartments at 9 Chesterville Road, Cheltenham, it has been designed by Australian Design Group (ADG).
The aims is to achieve a seven-star energy rating.
The 38 apartments have open-plan layouts, plus outdoor terraces and balconies.
Austin Design Associates took the lead in designing the interior with landscaping by Zenith Concepts.
The one-bedroom apartments with a car park start from $335,000 and a two-bedroom apartment start from $400,000.
Launch Corporation was established in 1999 and won the 2011 HIA Victorian Townhouses/Village Development Award and the BDAV Building Design Awards for a two-unit townhouse located in Fitzroy.
The other development - Central Park - is a residential townhouse development centered around Cheltenham’s newest park.
Located at 100 Cavanagh Street, Cheltenham, Central Park (pictured below) offers a range of six different contemporary home styles, all named after flowers.
The Ivy townhouse is three storeys high with two bedrooms and a modern warehouse-style study on the third floor. Released early November, Ivy is the cheapest townhouse, with a starting price of $499,500.
Jasmine is a two-bedroom, three-storey townhouse with a private courtyard and an open-plan kitchen living and dining area with a starting price of $535,000.
The two-storey Magnolia starts from $595,000 and has three bedrooms. It includes a private courtyard.
Gardenia has three-bedrooms and starts from $657,500.
Camellia is also two-storeys high and has three-bedrooms but comes with a landscaped backyard and starts from $599,500.
Orchid is the biggest style, offering three bedrooms plus a study, double garage and multiple landscaped outdoor areas but is completely sold out.
Central Park has almost sold 100 townhouses from stages one and two, with 25 remaining.
Stage three has recently been released.
Property developer R Corporation says that modern families are looking to upgrade from their apartments without the associated price tag of a traditional house.
According to RP Data, the median sale price for a unit in Cheltenham is $430,000, with a 36.9% rise in median price over the past five years.
The median house price is $600,000.
The median asking rent for Cheltenham is $450 with an indicative gross rental yield of 3.9%.
RP Data reported the supply and demand for Cheltenham was 31 people looking per house, with a population of 20,292.
“Due to strong growth in the more traditional and inner-market developments, apartment developments in Cheltenham have become more viable and profitable for developers to do,” says Shane Dargue of Colliers International.
“When the housing and development market was flying along a million miles an hour, there was enough growth in the market to think, maybe we can build high-density apartments in Cheltenham.”
“Buyers now have a choice, where as before with the strong market you didn’t have a choice. Predominately, you only have quarter-block housing.”
Dargue explains that investors who have acquired off-the-plan apartments that have been delivered in Cheltenham are going to find their investment quite safe. Due to the market slowing, Dargue says there is not likely to be any more projects in Cheltenham for a while.
Dargue says it was a “softening in the market” or a “correction in the market”.
“It is a correction the market needs every now and again to re-stabilise and provide a new base for the market to grow from,” Dargue says.
The No.9 display suite is located at 9 Chesterville Road, Cheltenham.
The display suite for Central Park is located at 100 Cavanagh Street, Cheltenham.