Eve in Erskineville secures $100 million in sales
Fridcorp, the luxury Melbourne apartment developer, sold 141 apartments off the plan on Saturday in Sydney as apartment buyers search for something affordable in SONO (south of Newtown).
Some $100 million worth of the available 198 apartment stock sold in the first release in $145 million development, Eve Apartments in Erskineville through CBRE.
Designed by DKO and Hecker Guthrie, Eve is Fridcorp’s first project outside of Melbourne. The apartments will have blond timber floors, streamlined galley kitchens and floor-to-ceiling doors leading out to balconies. There is also a communal rooftop garden.
The marketing campaign by Fridman’s founder Paul Fridman secured 5,000 names in pre-launch registration of interest for the apartments on the corner of Eve and Macdonald Streets.
Queues at the launch of Eve on Saturday 24 May. Source: Supplied.
Fridcorp acquired an adjacent Erskineville site in Sydney’s inner west beginning in March last year for $17.5 million which will see the project expand.
CBRE Residential Project Marketing managing director David Milton thinks proximity to public transport as a key influence in much of Erskineville's sales success of recent times. He noted that intending Eve owner occupiers exceeded the recent 65% that was evident at Leighton Properties' nearby Erko project.
Eve is a staged project overseen by Sydney operative, Craig Minahan and Colliers co-founder Bill McHarg with its partner, the mezzanine financier, Wingate Group which has $15 million of equity in Fridcorp’s project.
The weekend success prompted Fridman to say: “You wouldn’t see this in Melbourne and in fact never in 17 years have I seen anything like this."
“My gut instinct is there is more demand than supply and it will continue to be that way for some time," he told the Australian Financial Review.
Fridman recently suggested the heat had come out of the Melbourne apartment market and while there was still demand, buyers had become more educated and discerning in their expectation of quality locations and fair pricing.
Fridman noted Sydney's average apartment costs more than the average Melbourne house.
Fridcorp’s Eve apartments were on average 15-20% dearer than the developer’s Melbourne apartments.
The two bedroom two bathroom apartments at Eve sold for an average of about $800,000, compared with Melbourne selling at around $670,000.
“Melbourne has more land to develop on whereas in Sydney it is hard to get land, so I think that is part of the appeal. We will probably sell out the rest over the next couple of weeks,” Fridman said.
Eve's one bedroom, one bathroom apartments are available from $525,000; two bedroom, one bathroom apartments from $750,000; two bedroom, two bathroom from $780,000; three bedroom, two bathroom from $1.1 million.
Of the apartments, 65% are one-bedroom from 50 square metres, 30% are two-bedroom from 72 square metres and 5% are three-bedroom, from 95 to 125 square metres.
Back in 2002 the property developer Austcorp International unveiled a new urban development, Motto, designed by Allen Jack + Cottier at Erskineville with prices starting at $329,000 for a 50 square metre one-bedder without parking and at $558,000 for an 82 square metre two-bedder.
David Milton was there in 2003 when 40 deposits were taken on the first weekend, with most interest from owner-occupiers, principally young professional couples.