With modern day society becoming increasingly time-poor, there is growing appeal for the inherent low-maintenance lifestyle that comes with buying an apartment.

Apartment living is also becoming increasingly attractive to a wider range of buyers. ‘Downsizing’, where empty-nesters sell their suburban house and move to an apartment in a more dynamic location has become a recognised societal shift.

Now in our latest project - Sky One in Box Hill - we are seeing movement towards a similar advent but at a much younger age; not downsizing, but ‘side-sizing’.

People are not waiting until they are older for a more pleasurable, convenient and rewarding quality of life; we are seeing it happening when they are in their forties.

Side-sizing is a little different to downsizing. Purchasers are not selling an expensive house and buying a cheaper apartment to free up money for retirement, but rather buying a luxurious apartment in a location that offers a higher level of enjoyment with more entertainment and activities.

Side-sizers are buying larger apartments and penthouses. Sometimes the apartment will be more expensive than a house, but they are securing a convenient lifestyle in a more interesting location. With maintenance included, apartment owners avoid general upkeep such as cleaning the pool or watering the garden.

Golden Age Development Group is increasingly seeing these kinds of buyers due to our underpinning philosophy: to choose the best location possible in order to provide a wholesome lifestyle in a luxury setting.

Our goal is to provide convenience and amenities far beyond that of a house, tailored specifically to the location.

In the case of Sky One Box Hill, it was uncovering not only the need for high-quality housing and generous amenity – including a pool, gym, sauna, spa, yoga studio, family wet area, landscaped gardens, private dining area, cinema/media room and entertainment room- but also the need for luxury lifestyle outlets as it increasingly develops a status of being a city within itself.

This prompted the integration of high-end retail and hospitality outlets across three levels, adding value to both the residents of the building and the suburb more broadly. We firmly believe new developments should include amenities that are accessible to both residents and the public that assist in increasing the diversity of the community. Through doing so, it helps diminish the element of alienation that is often linked to any new project.

With Sky One presiding over Box Hill’s buzzing street culture, it is ideally located for residents to experience a refined lifestyle or to mingle among the cafes, dumpling houses, traditional Asian restaurants and fresh food markets Box Hill is known for.

High-end apartment projects akin to the Sky One development should increasingly look to cater for ‘side-sizers’ by including lifestyle outlets, generous amenity, and spacious residences that provide the same level of accessibility and amenity as the locales they are likely to be moving from.

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Encouraging retirees to downsize could ease housing shortage