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Verge Apartments is a new building which is part of the Cannon Hill and Murarrie rejuvenation. This area in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane has traditional been a mixture of industrial land and sleepy older residential houses from the 1940’s to the 60’s or 70’s. That is all changing now, and Verge Apartments is in the thick of this change
There is a burst of building activity within the immediate vicinity around Verge Apartments with a lot of competitive pressure. A significant benefit of the area is plentiful green space to retreat to with The Murarrie Recreation Reserve nearby.
We think Verge represents a good opportunity for first home buyers and investors alike. For investor there should be long term strong rental demand driven by the significant commercial activity within the local catchment area, however with a lot of new apartments coming to market at the same time in this area, you should expect lower returns for the short term as the market takes up the new supply.
Verge Apartments consists of 70 apartments with a mixture of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms. Some apartments with feature city views but looking north there are a multitude of multi-leveled apartment developments some which could block views.
Verge offers an array of floorplans all of which are larger sized. A standard two-bedroom unit is about 85m² internally with an additional 15m² balcony, which are good sized 2 bedroom apartments in the Brisbane market
Verge could be a great entry point for first-home buyers with prices starting from $299,000. According to the marketing agents, around 85 per cent of buyers in the building thus far are owner-occupiers. There will be a full-time onsite manager as well.
The floorplans in Verge Apartments are quite varied, so there is something in there for everyone, so to speak. As we said above we like Verge Apartments for first home buyers, given the price and location, although the body corporate fee’s are a little higher than many first home buyers would like (perhaps the onsite manager can be dropped?).
A floorplan such as Type 2G would be ideal for a first home buyer who rents out the spare room. Offers a huge amount of privacy, a full sized kitchen and an excellent balcony.
The apartments have split system air-conditioning, with condensers on the balconies.
There is reconstituted wooden flooring in the living areas and carpets in the bedrooms.
Verge Apartments facilities include a gym, pool deck, rooftop entertainment area and allocated secure car parking. The project completion date is anticipated for the first quarter of 2017.
Verge Apartments is positioned in Cannon Hill’s development pocket. Its the only development entrance in Dorothea Street, while in contrast nearby competitors are bottle -necked in close-by Ludwick Street which could create parking issues.
This is a pet-friendly complex on the condition pets don’t weigh any more than 10kg.
Verge Apartments is centrally located with the CBD 6 km’s away, the airport within 10km and the Gateway Motorway 2 kms. which offers access to both the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
If you choose to buy into Verge you will be positioned on the major traffic arterial of Wynnum Road, also directly across the road from the commercial and residential East Village project.
According to Urbis Outlook, Cannon Hill as an area accommodates three fundamentals which make a sustainable suburb – population, infrastructure and employment.
Cannon Hill has a growing population with annual growth of 2900 permanent residents. More than 50 per cent of the demographic includes professionals and Generation Y.
Surrounding suburbs comprise Murarrie, Morningside and Tingalpa. Local businesses include Bayer, GM, Orica, Westpac, Honeywell, Cannon, Woolworths, Aldi, Coles, Bunnings and 4BC Radio. In addition, Cannon Hills Park is a major shopping centre and Westfield Carindale is a five-minute drive away.
Schools in the near surrounds include Cannon Hill Anglican College, a private prep to Year 12 school. A private school is St Oliver Plunkett Primary. State schools include Cannon Hill State School, Balmoral State High School and Murarrie State School.
Cannon Hill has various public transport options. There is a major bus interchange nearby. There are two Translink train stations: Cannon Hill and Murarrie, on the Cleveland Line taking you into the CBD within 30 to 40 minutes. Nearby Creek Road is another arterial route in the immediate vicinity as is the Gateway Motorway. Wynnum Hospital is also 11km away.
Taking either train or bus from Cannon Hill Shopping Centre to the city will take approximately 35 minutes during peak travel times.
Cannon Hill is literally a hive of activity at the moment, with a multitude of apartment, commercial and community projects underway. One particularly existing project for Cannon Hill and the southern and eastern suburbs of Brisbane is the proposed Cannon Hill Gold Course. The Brisbane City Council has signed an agreement with a major Australian engineering Company BMD to develop a new 18-hole course, Brisbane’s first public golf course in 70 years. It is the only public golf course south of the Brisbane River and will be within walking distance of Verge Apartments.
Verge Apartments does sit on busy Wynnum Road so you should expect road noise on the apartments facing this road, those behind should be relatively sheltered.
The apartments offer a single colour scheme. This encompasses charcoal-coloured carpets, beige tones and sashless windows.
The kitchen features stone waterfall benchtops, stainless steel appliances, and modern cabinetry. There is light timber feature paneling in the kitchen space which adds a warm touch to the design and which also provides additional storage. There is only a single basin for the sink.
Display Kitchen at Verge Apartments
Another development scheduled for construction this year, directly opposite the Verge Apartments, is East Village. The Anthony Johns Group, creator of the upmarket Emporium retail, hotel and dining precinct in Fortitude Valley, will be developing it in a similar style to the original design in the valley. Easy Village will include cinemas, retail and dining facilities. It is expected to play a significant role in not only rejuvenating Cannon Hill be potentially raising the value of the area’s real estate.
Two more projects situated nearby and worth inspecting are Thornhill Apartments and Lime Apartments. Both of these developments are similar in design but are smaller buildings (around 30 apartments) and as a consequence have less amenities.
East Village, across the road from Verge. April 2016.
Genius Loci Property Pty Ltd are the developers. We are not aware of any other projects that they have been involved in to date.
Prices start at $299,000 for one (1) bedroom apartments. Two (2) bedroom apartments are priced from $419,000.
Body Corporate fees range between $2800 and $4000 per year. The body corporate is a little higher than developments close by with the price reflected by the full-time onsite manager to assist with upkeep.
One (1) bedroom apartments are expected to rent between $340 and $360 per week. Two (2) bedroom apartments have an expected rental income of between $440 and $460 per week.
The increasing demand for units in the Cannon Hill catchment has driven rental price growth, with an average annual growth rate of 7.9 per cent for one-bedroom units and 5.6 per cent for two-bedroom units predicted over 10-years from December 2014. As mentioned above there is a lot of new apartments entering the market in the Cannon Hill market at the moment so we recommend getting updated rentals estimates from the sales agents when you enquire.
The display suite is at 1035 Wynnum Road, Cannon Hill. It is open to inspect by appointment.
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