Rising interest rates, soaring rents and affordability pressures are tipped to push a bigger pool of buyers back into Queensland’s apartment market.

Demand for units is surging and industry experts believe the return of investors driven by the rental crisis will push up apartment prices. PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said demand for houses outshone units during the pandemic as people opted for more space, but now demand for units was bouncing back.

In March, inquiries for houses and land slipped compared to a year ago, but the volume of unit inquiry is 16.6 per cent higher year-on-year, according to the data. “With the return of overseas migration and universities resuming in-person classes, investors are eyeing up the opportunity to purchase a unit,” Ms Creagh said.

Colliers Queensland residential director Andrew Roubicek said the price difference between houses and apartments in Brisbane had reached 49 per cent — the greatest differential in two decades. Mr Roubicek believes the city’s apartment market is in for a significant price increase in the second half of 2022. “We expect surge in demand from investors as the rental vacancy rates continue to fall to less than one per cent and rental yields approach five per cent. “This increase in demand will have a significant impact on the second-hand apartment pushing up prices reflecting the price of a new apartment.”

Kollosche agent Harry Kakavos, who sells prestige real estate on the Gold Coast, said skyrocketing building costs would also drive up apartment prices.

Hotspotting director Terry Ryder said units would start to become “a very attractive option” given the price gap between units and houses. “I think we’ll see more demand coming to apartments as the desired choice because of affordability, although there are plenty of places where apartments have had exceptional growth in median prices,” Mr Ryder said. “100 per cent of Brisbane suburbs have had house price growth in the past 12 months and 93 per cent of suburbs with apartment markets have also grown.”

It’s a global clothing giant, with stores across the world, but now Rodd & Gunn is set to open its first restaurant in Australia, picking Brisbane for its flagship dining destination.

From an iconic heritage-listed spot on bustling James St, The Lodge Bar & Dining will serve local produce, fresh seafood and a 250-bottle wine list.

Internationally acclaimed, Michelin-starred chef Matt Lambert, who is in charge of the NZ restaurants will oversee the Brisbane operation, moving to Australia briefly to help set up the venue, introducing a modern, produce-driven menu heroing the best of local ingredients cooked with simplicity and elements of fire through a charcoal pit. Seafood is expected to be a particularly strong focus, as well as steaks in an elevated yet approachable offering.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s first and only master sommelier Cameron Douglas will take charge of the drinks list, showcasing multi-award-winning New Zealand wine producers, along with Australian and international drops.

The restaurant and bar will also be connected to a new Rodd & Gunn retail space, but you won’t be sitting among stacks of slacks and puffer jackets. Instead, The Lodge Bar Group executive general manager of hospitality Josh Beagley says, it will be all American oak floorboards, brass highlights, blackened steel and flagstone walls.

The Lodge will stretch across both floors of the heritage-listed, circa 1876-built Lawless Grocery Store building, with a 120-seat restaurant downstairs and a 30-seat bar with banquette seating upstairs. The bar area will also make use of the building’s wraparound verandah so punters can look down on the popular lifestyle street with a cocktail or glass of wine in hand. The fit-out is intended to capture the sense of a classic Kiwi lodge but fine-tuned for Queensland with flagstone in place of New Zealand schist.

The Lodge Bar & Dining will open on Thursday May 19.

roddandgunn.com/au/the-lodge-bar

Brisbane is a major step closer to becoming the Asia Pacific region’s premier superyacht destination after Rivergate Marina and Shipyard gained approval for a $200 million expansion.

The approved expansion of Brisbane’s major superyacht hub will generate an estimated 2,000 new jobs for marine and tourism sectors, inject close to $1 billion into the Queensland economy each year, and ensure the region’s maritime industry is ready for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Key elements of the expansion include a $35 million state-of-the-art shiplift capable of lifting vessels of up to 3,000 tonnes and 90 metres, and new hardstand space, sheds and berthing to service multiple large vessels at the same time. Rivergate will also become a Trade Centre for Excellence with plans for a new 5-storey purpose-built facility featuring training rooms, offices, café, world-class crew accommodation and crew recreation facilities.

The multi award-winning Rivergate Marina and Shipyard was established in 2006 and is now recognised as one of the top three superyacht shipyards in the world. It is widely respected for its skilled trades, safe environment, and warm hospitality.

Rivergate is a customs clearance marina and offers deep water access on all tides, near-perfect weather for year-round operations, and easy access to capital city services, including the 24-hour Brisbane International Airport only 10 minutes away.

Surrounding Newstead, there is a number of the most prominent employment nodes within the city. From lifestyle, entertainment and culture, to specialised medical research, technology-based employment and advanced manufacturing, these global priority precincts play a huge part in drawing such broad and unique demographic to the Newstead Area.

Remodeling from its industrial origins into the vibrant community it is today, this cosmopolitan habitat is highly enticing to Double Income No Kids (DINK), Young Professionals, Health workers, Creatives and Downsizers; namely due to its proximity to the major employment precincts within the city.

Newstead Commercial Precinct

The largest non-CBD white collar office market in the country, links from the Northern end of Fortitude Valley down to Breakfast Creek. With a rapid growth rate, multiple national and international companies are setting offices and headquarters in this peripheral area, a natural extension of the CBD. Many state-of-the-art buildings stand in this precinct, with excellent accessibility, Energex, Green Square and BoQ occupy more than 480,000 square meters of office space, and close to 100,000 sqm more are in the pipeline for companies like Aurizon, Mater and WSP.

The Herston Health Precinct 

Herston Health Precinct is one of the largest integrated precincts in Australia, and less than 2km’s from Newstead. Anchored by Queensland’s largest hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, this 20 hectare precinct is a world class centre for healthcare innovation, education, research, training and clinical services.

Within the next 10 years, Herston Health Precinct will benefit from approximately $17 billion worth of public and private investment in major infrastructure projects. This includes the development of Herston Quarter, giving the existing health hub more room to grow and diversify to meet the needs of the city now – and in the future.

‘The Precinct’ Fortitude Valley 

The Precinct is one of Queensland’s largest innovation hubs connecting Queensland startups, scaleups, incubators, investors and mentors under one roof in Fortitude Valley. Originally incepted in October 2016, ThePrecinct led the charge in what is now considered a ‘Start-Up Strip’ from Wickham Street in the Valley, down to Macquarie Street in Teneriffe. Powerhouse startups and a myriad of Co-Working spaces like Cove, SQ Hub by Screen Queensland, and River City Lab’s have anchored on the strip.

Tradecoast Precinct 

The Tradecoast precinct is Brisbane’s second largest business precinct and employment zone (after the CBD). 12 minutes from Newstead, the precinct has specialised sectors including the Brisbane Airport, Australia’s largest capital city airport, providing domestic and international connections – now over two runways. Port of Brisbane, which is Australia’s fastest growing container port; and Brisbane Multimodal Terminal, which provides the interface between rail, road and container terminals at the Port of Brisbane.

Brisbane Airport has unveiled plans for a $72m state-of-the-art aeromedical base that will be home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, LifeFlight and Queensland Health facilities, and could save lives in all corners of the state.

The 14,000sq m site located between Brisbane Airport’s two runways at the northern end of the precinct will feature new patient transfer services, state-of-the-art hangars for emergency planes and helicopters, as well as administration areas and a medical base for regional patient and donor transfers.

With more than half of Queensland’s five-million-plus population living outside of the Greater Brisbane area, the Queensland Regional Aeromedical Base will allow emergency teams to launch into action within minutes, which could be the difference between life and death for patients in far-flung corners of the state.

Brisbane Airport Corporation chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff said the airport offered an unparalleled aeromedical address with the size and flexibility needed to deliver the base.

“As the heart of the Queensland network for patient retrieval and medical transfers, the Queensland Regional Aeromedical Base at Brisbane Airport will enhance the network of aeromedical bases located throughout regional Queensland,” he said.

“Brisbane Airport is the logical choice for such a facility, providing the quickest possible response time to get planes and helicopters in the air and on their way to the regions and bring patients into Queensland’s major hospitals.”

BAC is working with the state government, RFDS and LifeFlight to finalise plans for the base, with federal gov­ernment approval also required to proceed with the ­facility. Construction of the ­facility will support an estimated 200 jobs with another 220 direct jobs that will contribute an annual economic benefit to the state of $100m.

The base is expected to be finished in April next year.

It is one of several developments slated for the airport precinct, with the BNE Auto Mall on track for completion in 2024. The $1bn auto mall is slated to include leading car brands, automotive research outfits as well as a high-performance driving circuit and entertainment centre.

Sunshine will launch opposite The Calile Hotel on Fortitude Valley’s up-market James St on Thursday, April 20. Delivering much of the Mediterranean style of cuisine Gloftis grew up eating, the casual, open-air venue will be entirely vegetarian, operating as an up-market buffet of sorts with all the food prepared by a brigade of up to 15 chefs, many of whom have worked at Hellenika.

Diners will be able to choose from about 40 dishes, ranging from hot options such as stuffed tomatoes, braised beans and baked rice, to cold offerings, including salads and filled vine leaves, plus desserts and a yoghurt station featuring a special vegan yoghurt, which can be topped with the likes of honey and crushed local nuts.

There will also be a drinks well offering fresh juices, kombucha, a couple of house-made cocktails, and a terrific 30-strong wine list of all Australian, mostly organic and biodynamic drops curated by the restaurant group’s beverage director Alexandra McPherson.

Inside the stunning, curve-roofed internal space, customers will start at one end of a U-shaped collection of glass cabinets, with a staff member filling your plate as you point to what you would like. Your plate is then weighed and you pay roughly $4 per 100g, regardless of what you order.

“If you have a stuffed tomato or a little salad and you just wanted a light lunch, it might cost you $8 or $9,” Gloftis said.

“If you want to fill your plate up and go crazy … it might be $40. You’re literally paying for what you want,” he said.

Diners will then be able to takeaway, or dine in at the beautiful, outdoor, stone courtyard lined with sunshine yellow umbrellas and established olive trees.

As an agent with Cavale, Ari Shahbazifar is at the heart of Newstead’s luxury real estate market, focusing on Cavcorp’s portfolio of Award-Winning Wellness-Lifestyle developments including Lucent, Le Bain, and the highly anticipated Luminare, which is under construction now.

Currently Ari is working on the launch of Luminare, which will have over 1,300 square meters of amenities exclusive to residents including a fabulous cantilevered pool, comfortable European sunbeds, dual magnesium spas, a steam room & two saunas, fitness centre, poolside alfresco kitchen and a dramatic private dining room. Features that buyers are seeking now more than ever.

We spoke with Ari about the importance of amenities in luxury developments and what it’s like walking into the yet-to-be-opened Luminare.

In Brisbane right now, what neighbourhood is up and coming for luxury residencies?

Ari: It is where it has always been the past 10 years, Newstead/Teneriffe has been drawing more people than anywhere else in the city.

Why are people moving to Newstead?

 Ari: It’s the centre of activity and life, whether it’s the James St precinct, amazing gyms, great new restaurants, great architecture, or apartments. For people being priced out of the housing market, they’re finding a product that doesn’t compare in neighbouring suburbs — Luxury towers with amazing views and super amenities. There is an energy people have found that’s different from elsewhere.

What kinds of homes are high-net-worth individuals looking for?

Ari: The new luxury buildings, it’s about amenities. Everything imaginable—so you don’t even have to leave the building. Not just a gym in the building but a beautiful gym with a spa and saunas, a pool and a mini theatre/private dining room. Amenities are being well-curated, they’re not about checking a box, but providing what people want to actually use. There’s also a movement towards more gracious floor plans. People want higher ceilings, larger living rooms, eat-in kitchens, and even since the pandemic, people want more homes. Instead of having one home, they have five or six. People are looking at luxury real estate as an asset class in a way they hadn’t in the past.

Since the pandemic hit, it spurred a wellness craze, correct?

Ari: Yes, but it was going in that direction even before that. Now people are really concerned about safety and purified air, but there was already an emphasis on health and wellness but associating it with luxury. A healthier lifestyle, the spa has fresh organic juices, there’s a dietician who can create a meal plan for you. It piques buyers’ interests who want that lifestyle. We’re going to see more personal planning, curated services, who can help with what’s exactly needed for your body.

You’re currently working on Luminare, what does it look like and how is it going?

Ari: It’s extraordinary and hands down the best luxury high res development coming to market this year. The amenities are un-matched. We will have 1,300 square meters of amenities exclusive to the residents of the building. The adjoining TFP Wellness Centre will also have some world-first amenities, including Australia’s first snow room. The demographic of buyer that we are seeing interested in this building are primarily owner occupiers. It really is a turnkey experience.

What’s it like being inside Luminare before it opens?

Ari: It’s a legacy building for Cavcorp, so it’s incredibly special. The Cavcorp design team have thought of everything. The level of finish within the apartments coupled with the generous layouts and those 360degree views from the rooftop is something that will be really hard to replicate ever again. It has the pedigree of a landmark building.

What’s driving the buying craze in Newstead?

Ari: There’s pent up demand, limited stock, and more and more people who have their eyes on this lifestyle pocket in Brisbane. Deals are for local buyers who are downsizing to apartment living for an easier way of life, or buyers from down south who are trading up and moving to the sunshine state.

Luminare display suite is now open. To book your private appointment, click below.

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Children will soon have access to over 200 square metres of indoor play & learning space when the redefined TFP opens this Spring. Designed by Cavcorp in collaboration with the award-winning firm Tiger Play, the dedicated children’s space is creatively themed around exploration. Here, both children and toddlers can enjoy immersive and engaging interactive learning and play, while parents opt for a work-out, group fitness class, or self-care in the state-of-the-art Wellness Centre.

Within the Kids Crèche, colourful images tell the story of their epic journey, inspiring children to engage in imaginative play opportunities with interactive light & sound, and dedicated zones including:

• Immersive & Interactive design
• Custom interactive learning games & puzzles
• Unique pretend play environments
• Climbing and gross motor play
• Sports zone with Basketball Net
• Highly detailed and unique Set-Work

The pandemic-era “work-from-home movement” did more than spark an interest in home offices and homework nooks. It surfaced the need for amenity spaces within Luxury developments that have been adapted for children to use for creative pursuits and virtual learning when they are not able to attend school.

These amenities are helping keep young ones engaged while parents log eight hours’ worth of WFH, and additional hours managing the household.

“The host of spaces will certainly enhance distance learning and offer children the ability to get into the academic mindset outside of their homes,” said Leon McNiece, owner of Total Fusion. “The oversized children’s playroom features a performance stage where they’ll be able to practice reciting play lines or get into character for theatre, while an easel and seating area are perfect for art, math or reading classes.”

Scott Morrison has pledged $5.4b to build what would become Queensland’s largest dam, creating 10,000 jobs and opening up an irrigation area bigger than the entire Gold Coast.

Hell’s Gate Dam in the state’s far north would cover a 60,000ha irrigation area – bigger than the entire Gold Coast – to deliver a $6 billion economic and jobs boom under the Morrison government budget pledge.

At 2100 gigalitres it would become Queensland’s largest dam and one of Australia’s largest, on par with Sydney’s Warragamba Dam but well shy of Tasmania’s Gordon Dam.

The dam, 120km northwest of Townsville, will cost $5.4 billion to construct, but it will deliver $6 billion straight back into the economy within the following years as well as creating 10,000 jobs.

Its 2100 gigalitre capacity is more than four Sydney Harbours, and will help provide 60,000Ha of irrigation for farmers – about the same area as 60,000 Suncorp Stadiums, as well as supporting Charters Towers water supply.

The project is expected to create 7000 jobs during construction and another 3000 after its operational through new and expanded agricultural opportunities to water supply will bring.

A deepening affordability crunch has driven people back to apartment living but stock levels cannot meet demand in the near term, an industry report warns.

Charter Keck Cramer’s report on the apartment market shows owner-occupier targeted developments could help to shore up stock levels because they are more appetising to buyers from the southern states, and locals who are priced out of housing markets.

“This particular sub-market gained significant momentum through 2021, with record prices and robust sales velocity achieved for premium product,” the report said.

But apartment construction commencement numbers were significantly down across major capital cities in Australia last year.

Brisbane’s apartment market underscored a very low commencement rate of just 1500 apartments, the lowest number of apartments commencements in the past decade, down 88 per cent from its 2015 record of 12,200 apartments. Assuming all marketed stock proceeds to practical completion , around 2,000 apartments are anticipated to be completed in 2023 and 1,300 apartments in 2024. Experts warn there is likely to be a shortage of supply over the next 2-3 year, as population growth returns to the capital city.

The report said a growing acceptance of family living in apartments, increased detached dwelling affordability constraints and record median house to apartment price gaps would encourage a flight to apartment living.

The “alarming” low number of apartment project launches and commencements across Brisbane last year means that new supply will continue to be constrained over the next two to three years. 

“With that growth will come the demand for additional and diverse forms of living … at present supply will not be able to respond as quickly to demand which suggests that vacancies will decrease, and rents and prices will increase.

Brisbane is blessed with the best Autumn Sunshine, so why not make the most of it and get outdoors. Whether it’s for a perfect picnic or a Autumn stroll, look to our top 3 finest parks & recreational grounds right here in the Northern Peninsula; home to exciting history, stunning landscaping and picturesque vantage points to take in the city scape.

1. NEW FARM PARK

With its winding pathways, battalion of landscaped gardens and picnic benches, New Farm Park is a leafy heritage listed haven in a modern metropolis. Brisbane is not lacking in green spaces, but none has quite the peace, or the pathos, of this Riverfront patch of green.

 

2. NEWSTEAD PARK

With sweeping views of the Brisbane River, palm trees and a gorgeous rotunda, you won’t be hard-pressed to find a nice spot to lay your picnic blanket out on. The park features an Alice Through the Looking Glass-themed playground, heaps of lawn space and a river walk that stretches far in both directions — connecting the park to the Newstead Dog Park, and as far out as the Hamilton Running Track.

If grazing in one spot all day is not your thing, the spacious and breezy area is also home to Newstead House, Brisbane’s oldest surviving residence. The heritage-listed European building runs as a museum and events space (by appointment only at the moment) making it a perfect historic interlude to picnicking.

 

3. TENERIFFE PARK

Hidden away atop Teneriffe’s highest (44m) hill is this charming little green domain, overlooking nineteenth century cottage chimneys and the city in one direction and flanked by native bush through which there is a walking path on the other.

Before it was acquired by BCC in 1925 it formed part of the orchard to the first and surviving homestead in the area, Teneriffe House (circa 1865) which is perhaps why it has such a sense of exclusivity. Its amenities include a gas barbecue, children’s playground and a picnic shelter in a rotunda.

Total Fusion Platinum is slicker than your average sweatbox. It adds polish to perspiring, in a lifestyle pocket of Brisbane which is in constant pursuit for perfection. There are cavernous changing rooms with Aesop care products, Technogym skillmills specially designed for its Precision Run interval programme and an immersive spin class specifically tailored to competitive City types.

The custom furnishings throughout the club are upholstered in a sage leather with a neo natural color pallet throughout. The vibe is luxurious, but in a resolutely functional, relentlessly productive way.

The rise of the group workout, club membership and all of the attendant accessories that come with it have become part of the new language of “wellness” and “self-care”. And Total Fusion Platinum was born through an accumulation of exactly this.

Self-care is now considered a luxury indulgence. Today’s consumer has an insatiable appetite for healthy living, or  high-performance living. And that is a dramatic change from 25 years ago. If you were a health nut in 1995, you probably went to the gym twice a week. Today, being a health nut means taking two classes a day. The consumer wants to be healthy and feel good and look good. And you don’t just see it in the fitness category, you see it in beauty and skincare. You see it manifesting itself in so many different ways.

Health is the new wealth, and the experience economy is booming, to say nothing of the $4.5 trillion wellness market, which is enlarging at twice the rate of global economic growth.

Where once consumers looked for acquisitions to express their status, our spending habits are shifting towards more holistic expenditures. In the past 20 years, the leisure industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic, disruptive and fashionable of forces. It’s all part of a new focus on the “lifestyle experience”, a trend that has possessed consumers and found luxury brands spiking with sporty new offerings — sneakers, leggings, apps and accessories — designed to harness the burgeoning market.

Total Fusion’s vision of a high-quality lifestyle brand was therefore remarkably on the money. And they plan to continue to pave this vision to a new cornerstone of wellness which has never been seen before in Australia. TFP and TFP Beyond is the new brainchild between Cavcorp and Total Fusion, set to rival the world’s best fitness clubs.

In Total Fusion parlance, the 4 story centre will include over one hectare of proven immune-enhancing and anti-aging therapies including hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), stem cell therapy, hot/cold therapy with snow room; red light and cryo-therapy, altitude training room and cardiovascular machines. The club will also include an in-house medi-spa/day-spa, co-working space, Kids Crèche and Doggy Day Care.

The clubs offering is a collation of a vision to put a greater emphasis on overall health and wellbeing instead of just exercise. “We all know the importance of exercise and nutrition, and now the recovery and wellness space will be where we start seeing huge improvements in our overall health and wellbeing” says the founding director of Total Fusion, Leon McNiece.

“I think you’re going to see there’s continued discretionary income for anything that’s going to help you feel better, look better and have more energy to go about your pursuits.”

With Newstead at the helm of the wellness crucible in Brisbane, it made sense to focus on the flagship and most popular studio for the unprecedented expansion. There are so many complexities and elements to make this type of offering work. Newstead’s professional demographic, urbanity and addiction to perfection has made this possible and it can’t be repeated anywhere else in Australia, if not the world

The offering will be a world first, and McNeice guarantees that there is nothing of this magnitude in any other country. “TFP will be a culmination of 30 years of research, travel and passion for the health and wellness industry…We want this to be an iconic destination  for health and wellness—all in one curated precinct under on exclusive membership”.

TFP is located at 18 Longland St, Newstead within the Long Island Precinct. Stage Two is expected to be completed by mid 2022.