Boomers drive sporting precinct living trend
LOS ANGELES: Baby boomers continue to defy the property market gloom and pile into sporting precinct living opportunities.
Melbourne developer Pace has defied the slowdown in the wider apartment market after selling 172 units off the plan in just four months at its flagship project overlooking Flemington Racecourse in the city’s inner northwest.
“Fifty-five per cent of the project is sold out,” said Pace sales and marketing director Ashley Bramich.
“We’ve tapped into those inner-north suburban markets, where downsizers are pretty prevalent.
“We certainly don’t need to sell them on the location.”
Pace acquired the 10,600 square metre site at 550 Epsom Road in 2017 from the Victoria Racing Club after an earlier sale to Chinese developer Greenland in 2013 fell over.
Off-the-plan sales kicked off in June after Pace opened a three-level display suite. Sales include a three-bedroom plus study apartment, purchased for $3.5 million. The 14-level, $311 million project overlooking the home of the Melbourne Cup features 313 units as well as an affinity pool, a cafe concierge service, a health and wellness centre and an underground wine cellar.
The sale came during a major slowdown in the apartment market amid a spate of building firm collapses, project cancellations and cost blowouts.
Approvals for private-sector dwellings, excluding houses, fell 43.5 per cent in July, their lowest level in over a decade, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Mr Bramich said: “This project has been the success of 2022 in Melbourne. We’ve gone against the grain, in a challenging market where there aren’t many investors.”
Construction of The Darley, as the Flemington project is called, will kick off later this year.
While many of its competitors are struggling to get funding or pre-sales, Pace founder Shane Wilkinson said Pace was taking advantage of less competition in the market to launch projects.
“We’ve launched an apartment project in Coburg and will launch another next year,” Mr Wilkinson said.
“It is obvious there will be an under-supply of apartments in 18 months to two years.
“What you buy now will be worth a lot more in two years’ time.”
Along with its decision to power on with residential projects, Pace has further diversified its business with the acquisition of two adjacent development sites in Windsor for a $33 million office project. Bought for $7.8 million, the 907 sq m site at 1A Windsor Place and 70 Chapel Street will be transformed into a boutique commercial hub of six to eight levels aimed at creative local businesses, such as architects.
It will be Pace’s third commercial project alongside developments in Collingwood and Cremorne.
Mr Wilkinson said: “We want to keep 20 per cent of our portfolio in office.”
A leasing campaign was expected to kick off in late 2023, but Mr Wilkinson said Pace was confident enough about the location and proposed development to just go ahead and build it speculatively once a permit had been secured.
“With access to some of Melbourne’s best bars, restaurants, and retail outlets plus adjacent Windsor train station providing access to the CBD in 11 minutes, we are confident the location will attract a diverse mix of A-grade tenants,” he said.