Multi Apartment Residential - 2 Storey Residential Units

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This project was originally approved and planned to be the second stage of the Unicentral Griffith project. It did not prove as successful as its predecessor Unicentral Sunshine Coast, which was a market innovation on release. 
A combination of factors from lower than projected student numbers, to a different demographic, to an across the board change in bank lending criteria for student specific accommodation required a pivot.

As such, we sought relatively minor amendments to the development approval on use and design to gain approval for long term stay apartments. This was achieved by some internal re-design and making use of the ground floor common areas, gaining exclusive use yard areas for the ground floor units. 

This turned the complex into a desirable and affordable option for first home buyers and investors, and solved the bank lending criteria restrictions. As also covered in other projects (My First Ever Duplex, Build Some, Hold At Least 1 ) I learned early on that selling most but holding onto a part of your project can be a great long-term growth strategy, and so I decided that I would always try and keep a piece of each project I complete. 

It simply made mathematical sense that saving the transaction fees on the home held such as; sales commission, marketing costs, legal (sometimes) stamp duty could be combined with the retained profits as more than enough equity for a bank loan. Now I would be lying if I didn’t admit to the property equivalent of hoarding as I loved creating these properties and keeping a part of something I conceived and believed in was appealing, however I had also watched successful developers build large complexes and hold a portion for wealth accumulation and ultimately cash flow. 

Other benefits were that I got pick of the litter, paid ‘the project’ the initial list price less the cost above, secured an early pre-sale, which over time helped as others heard that the ‘developer’ was buying them himself but I also had a vested interest in the final product outcome. I did this on most projects through the ‘90s and ‘00s, but there were also downsides that I came to see consistently over time. 

In larger multi-unit (home) complexes a Body Corporate is required to run the day-to-day of the common areas of the complex, effectively this means everything outside of the home or unit you own, and these are what I like to call the 4th level of government in this country. This consist of two parts: One: a professional external administrative arm, a Body Corporate manager they collect the Body Corporates fees from the home owners but also administers the required legal documentation, pays the insurance and maintenance bills etc. And two: The Committee, which is an elected body of unit owners in the complex that in my experience attract two kinds of people. The first is an owner who just wants to help, but the second and most common is an authoritarian, typically not so emotionally intelligent person with ample spare time on their hands. In my experience these people create turmoil, and are destructive to peace and quiet and cost efficiency. 

It’s both these types of people but to be balanced the whole Body Corporate system itself that sees annual Body Corporate fees increase and erode the cash flow of property owners. As such, after years of seeing a repeated pattern I do my absolute best to stay away from Body Corporate ownership with any more than two owners as small lot schemes >3 units have different rules.