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Estilo On Kittyhawk is located on Kittyhawk Drive in Chermside. This is behind Chermside shopping centre on a quieter street. Stage One of this project backs onto 7th Brigade Park which is a massive 73 hectares. Many apartments in this project look out over the park and towards the city. Being situated on the park is great for livability, providing views for many apartments and access to greenspace, which is always a highly valued commodity for apartment dwellers. It will also mean that there will be no further development in that immediate area adjacent to the Project.
Chermside is a suburb that has experienced a high level of development in recent years. Demand for new apartments in the suburb has been driven by proximity to the Westfield Chermside Shopping Centre, as well as jobs in the suburbs commercial centre, a great bus interchange and relative proximity to Brisbane’s CBD. The race to develop this area of Brisbane has inevitably led to some inferior apartment buildings being developed (and a bit of negative press as well). However, Propertymash believes that Estilo stands out from the average development in Chermside and rightfully deserves to be viewed in a positive light overall. The development offers competitively priced, well-designed apartments that are not only walking distance to Queensland’s largest shopping centre, but back on to one of the biggest parklands in Brisbane.
The Project:
There are a total of 78 apartments in this project over eight residential levels.
Estilo backs onto a large park. Supplied by developer.
There is a wide selection of apartment sizes within the project, ranging from small but very affordable one bedroom apartments to very large three bedroom apartments. There are 22 x one bedroom apartments that are between 51m² and 54m² internally with balconies ranging from 10m² to 14m². These apartments are priced from $329,000 to $399,000. All one bedroom apartments have a one car park allocation.
There are 15 x two bedroom apartments with a single bathroom that span 63m² to 65m² internally. Most of these apartments have 9m² and 10m² balconies, however one apartment on the ground floor has a large 32m² balcony.
Bedroom from Building 1
There are a further 32 x two bedroom apartments with two bathrooms. These apartments are a fair bit bigger than their one bathroom counterparts, ranging from 70m² to 81m² internally. These 81m² two bedroom, two bathroom apartments have 30m² of outdoor living space which would be great, particularly on apartments that overlook the park. The price range for two bedroom apartments at Estilo is $399,000 to $519,000.
The remaining apartments are three bedroom apartments. These are priced from $674,000 to $849,000. The largest of these is a total of 172m²!
Photo overlooking the park from the top level. Photo taken by Property Mash 2/11/16.
We should mention that the top floor in building 1 has a 3m ceiling height which is another nice feature. All other apartments have a standard 2.5m ceiling height.
In terms of residents amenity, those who live at Estilo will enjoy the pool, BBQ area and function facility that will be located on the ground floor between stages one and two. On top this, there will be an additional rooftop sun deck, pool and entertaining area that will be completed with stage two.
Car parking in the general vicinity of Westfield Chermside is an issue and even though the centre is a short walk away, it now has ticketed parking so that is not an option except for short stay visitor parking. So it is very positive that Estilo has 30 visitor car spaces. We also like that all car parks are side by side, and not tandem. Resident parking is in a secure underground car park with security access. This is also a plus if you intend to rent your apartment out.
One of the elements we like about Estilo is the wide selection of floorplan types. Not only different sizes and configurations, but also single and double storey. It really does add a lot of opportunity to find a floorplan to suit your specific needs, whether you are an investor or owner occupier, which we think is very important.
Location:
Estilo is located at 91 Kittyhawk Drive in Chermside. Chermside is a suburb in Brisbane’s north, 10kms away from the CBD. It’s neighbouring suburbs include Aspley, Chermside West, Stafford Heights, Northgate, Wavell Heights and Kedron.
This building is in a great location because it gets all the benefits of being located within walking distance of Westfield Chermside, but it is also a much quieter and tranquil location than could be claimed by any other apartment buildings in the area.
Photo of the neighbouring vacant lot with Westfield Chermside visible on the right. Photo taken by Property Mash 2/11/16.
The project is bordered by an apartment building on one side and an empty lot on the other side. It is likely that there will be another development in the immediate vicinity of Estilo but it is difficult to say when. Regardless, there is an inherent limit on the amount of development that is possible on this street due to the parkland and limited amount of vacant land. This is a definite bonus for anyone looking to buy at this project and there aren’t many other apartment buildings in Chermside that can boast the same thing.
One of the best aspects of this development is the fact that it is literally across the road from Chermside Shopping Centre. Chermside Shopping Centre is the largest shopping centre in Queensland and home to David Jones, Myer, Kmart, Target, Big W and over 400 other stores. The centre also has cinemas, a bowling alley and a major bus interchange. There are plans to expand this centre significantly over the next five years, as well.
There is also a major bus interchange at Chermside Shopping Centre, which residents of Estilo will be able to walk to in just a few minutes. This has seven different bus stations and people can catch services to many different parts of Brisbane from this location. This is a great location in terms of public transport on busses, however there is no train station in Chermside. The closest train station is Virginia which is a 10 minute drive from Estilo on Kittyhawk.
Whilst Chermside is a suburb that attracts many families, there aren’t many nearby schooling options. Some schools that are close include include Craigslea State Primary School, Craigslea State High School, Clayfield College and Kedron State High School. So, if you are a young family, it is worth noting that children will likely need to be driven to school or catch a bus (which would be a convenient option from Estilo).
Chermside has a population of 8,178 people. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs in Brisbane in terms of population, increasing by 14% over the five years between the past two Census dates. The predominant age group in Chermside is 25-34 years and childless couples make up the lion’s share of households. The median sale price for apartments in Chermside is $450,000, a figure which has increased by 9.8% over the past 12 months. The median rent is $395 per week in Chermside.
Quality and Finishes:
As the majority of apartments in this project are targeted towards owner occupiers, there are some nicer finishes available to buyers. There are four different colour schemes available. This means that potential purchasers are offered a greater choice at Estilo than many other apartment projects in Brisbane which offer just two colour choices. It is important to note that the three bedroom apartments generally have a higher level of finishes and fittings than the other apartments.
The kitchen appliances are supplied by ILVE and Bosch. The cooktops are all ILVE, electric cooktops for the one and two bedroom apartments, whilst three bedrooms get an induction cooktop. Some apartments have gas cooktops, as well. The oven and dishwasher in all apartments are Bosch.
Kitchen and living render. Supplied by developer.
All apartments at Estilo on Kittyhawk have ducted and zoned air conditioning throughout which is essential considering how warm Brisbane can get. There are also fans in the living area and bedrooms which we always view as a big plus.
Living area render. Supplied by developer.
We believe that the outdoor spaces at Estilo have been designed well and in-line with what is needed in Queensland. There are no air conditioning units on any of the decks, which is great because they are noisy, take up space and generally detract from the usability of the outdoor space. On top of this, balconies have built in gas points, which means residents can easily hook up a BBQ. Again, this shows an understanding of how people in Brisbane live and is a plus for this Project.
The design of these apartments is modern and clean inside. The kitchen has stone benchtops and nice large floor tiles. The bathrooms have tiled walls, stone benchtops and semi-frameless glass shower doors. All of these are solid, contemporary design features.
Photo of bathroom fittings taken inside the sales display. Photo taken by Property Mash 2/11/16.
Many people want to rent in Chermside, so it makes sense that it should be considered from an investors perspective. Due to the location of Estilo (across the road from a shopping centre and great public transport), as well as the price point of some of these apartments, it is likely that investors will find value in this building.
One bedroom apartments are expected to rent for between $350 and $380 per week. For two bedroom apartments, this figure is between $430 and $490 per week. And for three bedroom apartments it is $540 to $570 per week.
In terms of bod corporate rates, one bedroom apartment owners can expect to pay approximately $3,200 each year. Two bedroom apartment owners can expect to pay approximately between $3,600 and $3,800. Fro three bedroom apartment owners, this figure is above $4,100. These body corporate rates are higher than some of the neighbouring buildings in Chermside, but are reflective of all of the amenities that the two buildings will include. When you take into account the 2 pools and the BBQ and function area, they are in fact quite low.
There will be onsite managers at Estilo.
As we mentioned earlier, there is a lot of development going on in Chermside at the moment. Estilo is potentially the only new apartment building in the suburb that is on a quiet street overlooking the park and across the road from Westfield Chermside. The majority of the other apartment buildings are in between Gympie Road and Hamilton Road, just south of Westfield. This is a much busier area than Kittyhawk Drive in general. On the flip side, some of these apartment buildings offer great deals for investors as the area has a very strong rental pool. These projects include Hallmarque, Evolve and Hemmingway.
Gardner Vaughan Group, or GVG, is both the developer and the builder of Estilo on Kittyhawk. They are a successful, mid-sized, Brisbane based company with over 20 years experience in property development. They have completed a number of projects across Brisbane in suburbs such as Kenmore, the CBD, Newstead, Sherwood and Taringa. Recently, they completed a project in Nundah called Village Central which is on Station Street, Nundah which you could visit if you wished to check out the build quality.
There are display apartments available for viewing onsite.
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