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Coorparoo is an older, established suburb located four kilometres south-east of Brisbane’s CBD. It borders the suburbs of Camp Hill, Holland Park, Greenslopes, East Brisbane, Norman Park and Seven Hills, and has a current population of almost 17,000 permanent residents. Over the past 5 years Coorparoo has been rediscovered as a new development hotspot with a number of large projects now redefining what it is like to live here.
The Location:
As we mentioned above Coorparoo is an older suburb of Brisbane that has traditionally been characterised by old Queensland’s in tree lined streets, with a smattering of old 1960’s era 6 to 10 pack walk up unit buildings. Coorparoo also has a quite strong commercial and retail precinct bordering along Old Cleveland Road, which the old Myer building used to anchor. This precinct really peaked in the 1960’s, and in more recent times the area has been in slow decline as the Myer store shutdown and much of the retail shopping move to the City our out to the huge Carindale Shopping Centre.
But out with the old and in with the new!
Over the past 5 years Coorparoo is as we mentioned, been rediscovered. The old Myer site which was vacant for many years has been transformed into a large mixed use development called Coorparoo Square, which now forms the heart of the retail and leisure centre for the suburb. Located on the corner of Old Cleveland Road and Cavendish Road, Coorparoo Square consists of three residential towers, a cinema, Aldi, and specialty retailers and coffee shops.
Residents now also have access to new Coles, Woolworths and an Aldi supermarket.
Coorparoo also has a few medical center’s, with Coorparoo Medical Centre being the most well known. Located only 2km from Coorparoo, Greenslopes Private Hospital is a tertiary medical facility and one of the leading private teaching hospitals in Australia, with 678 beds and 2,000 staff. The Mater Hospitals’ complex in the nearby suburb of South Brisbane comprises an Adult Hospital, Maternity Hospital, a new $1.5 billion Children’s Hospital, and various private hospital facilities with 837 beds and 10,000 staff. Also close by is the Princess Alexandra Hospital, another of the major hospitals in Brisbane. The hospital has a catchment population of 1.6 million people with 780 beds and 6,500 staff.
Coorparoo has excellent public transport and is also extremely well connected to all major road networks.
Given that Old Cleveland Road runs through most of Coorparoo, it is the major bus route. Buses run every ten minutes into Brisbane city during peak times, as well as services to the Carindale Shopping Centre. The Coorparoo train station has trains come through nearly every 15 minutes. By train, it’s only an eight minute ride to Southbank, and 15 minutes to Roma Street Station.
Residents of Coorparoo have easy access to South Brisbane and West End areas (in particular) due to roads in the area. The Gateway Motorway, South East Freeway, Pacific Motorway, Clem-7 tunnel, Inner City Bypass, Airport Link, Ipswich Road, Old Cleveland Road, and other major local routes provide access to everywhere in and out of Brisbane.
Coorparoo is also exceedingly well known for its active community, in part due to the rehabilitation of Coorparoo Creek Park in 2017-2018. This is a long, thin park that begins right next to the new development Maasra and slithers north towards the city. The rehabilitation of the park increased the local green space in the area, making the whole area more accessible. As noted previously, Coorparoo has an extensive range of existing amenities and services as well as excellent public transport connectivity. According to Walk Score™, Holdsworth Street in Coorparoo achieves a score of 89 out of 100, meaning that most daily errands can be achieved on foot. By way of comparison, the average Walk Score for the greater Brisbane area is just 52 out of 100.
Properties with above average levels of walkability command a premium over apartments with average levels of walkability. Inner Brisbane suburbs with higher walkability also achieve higher gross rental returns and resale listings sell faster. This makes Coorparoo ideal for investors.
Education and Employment:
There are six major schools in Coorparoo itself: Coorparoo State School, Coorparoo Secondary College, Loreto College (an all-girls seconday school), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Primary School, St. James Primary School, and Villanova College (an all-boys primary school). Just outside the suburb, lay some of Brisbane’s premier private school, including Somerville House, St. Laurence’s College, Anglican Church Grammar (also known as “Churchie”), and Brisbane State High School. There are also several child care centre’s for younger children, such as the Peter Pan Early Learning and Childcare, Coorparoo Childcare Centre, and Goodstart Early Learning, to name a few.
The Brisbane CBD employs over 171,000 workers and in recent years, strong employment growth has seen commercial office space extend into city fringe areas such as Woolloongabba/Kangaroo Point (approximately 22,000 workers) and South Brisbane/West End (approximately 32,000 workers). These locations are readily accessible from Coorparoo.
Affordability:
Over the past decade, Coorparoo has seen an annual growth of 7.2% in median apartment prices. This makes it one of the best performing suburbs in Brisbane’s inner south-east over this period.
Demographics:
Census data shows that Coorparoo is a ‘younger’ suburb, with almost 40% of the residents aged between 15-44 years of age. A slightly higher proportion of young adults aged 15-24 ) when compared to Queensland as a whole) are also found in Coorparoo.
The weekly average household income in Coorparoo is about $1,796, which is 28% higher than the Queensland average of $1,402. This has resulted in a suburb where house, apartments and building exteriors are generally quite fresh and smart looking.
Single-resident households are the dominant type in Coorparoo, accounting for 31% of all households. 27% of households have couples with no children, and couple families with children account for 25.5%. Coorparoo also has a slightly higher percentage of group/communal/share housing than most other suburbs (9%, rather than 7%), given its inner-city location.
Coorparoo also has a high percentage of apartment dwellers (at 46%). Therefore, apartment living is well accepted (and even the norm) in the area.
The vacancy rate for permanent rental accommodation in Coorparoo is currently just 2.8%. This suggests significant shortage of suitable rental apartments. This means that Coorparoo is ideal for investors looking to rent their apartment out.
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