Developer Tim Gurner’s latest luxury development sells out in less than 2 days, with over 55 percent sold to owner occupiers.
Developer Tim Gurner’s latest luxury apartment building sold out last weekend in less than 48 hours, with more than half sold to owner occupiers. Gurner says the $30 million Collingwood project is proof that the Victorian state government doesn't need to implement uniform apartment standards across the state. “What works for one location is absolutely not going to be the right mix for another location, which is why I strongly believe that applying apartment standards across Victoria is a flawed premise that simply won’t be able to keep up with our rapidly moving market trends,” said Gurner.
The work of New Zealand-based architects Warren and Mahoney, 28 Stanley Street in Collingwood’s historic Foy and Gibson precinct consists of 40 luxury New York loft style apartments with retail and hospitality offerings at ground level. Gurner completely reconfigured the project’s floorplates to limit the one bedroom apartments to roughly 20 percent of the mix, increase the size of all apartments and introduce multiple three bedroom offerings. The reconfigured design delivered average apartments sizes of 55sqm internally for one bedroom offerings, 67sqm internally for two bedrooms and between 120sqm and 150sqm for the project’s three three-bedroom penthouses.
“Had we offered these large apartments in the CBD or West Melbourne, it would have been a totally different story as the market in these locations has very different demands and desires," said Gurner. "That’s why it is so important to assess each and every project on its own merits using its extremely local buyer profile as a guide, rather than using a blanket formula across the board."
He believes that minimum apartment guidelines would run the risk of becoming quickly outdated and would inhibit architects and developers from being adaptable to changing market trends. "Just two years ago we were selling in a completely different landscape, and buyers of our three Collingwood projects at the time - Oxley, Little Ox and Bellini - were demanding a more price-focused product. This resulted in the larger apartments being much slower to sell. Fast forward to today and we are seeing a complete reversal in demand – purchasers are seeking out larger apartments and the smaller offerings are harder to sell. This is evident of the market dictating appropriate product and we as developers must be flexible in order to adapt and deliver what the market wants,” he said.
Gurner took registrations of interest leading up to the launch of 28 Stanley St, helping the project sell-out quickly.