Prospect Rd set to get more larger apartments after developers snub them in favour of other uses
DEVELOPERS seem keen on building anything but the luxury three-bedroom apartments Prospect Council would like to see in the area, but that might be about to change.
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DEVELOPERS seem keen on building anything but the luxury three-bedroom apartments Prospect Council would like to see in the area.
But that might be about to change.
Bert Farina Constructions is putting together plans to build two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments on the site of a house at 117 Prospect Rd bought by a developer for $2.3 million in July.
The development will also include two commercial spaces on the ground floor, company director Anthony Farina said.
The site at the corner of Willcox Ave borders Barker Gardens.
“It’s pretty much the prime location in Prospect,” Mr Farina said.
Rather than the two-bedroom investor-owned apartments which dominate Churchill Rd, Prospect, Mayor David O’Loughlin said the council wanted “normal places for people live” – apartments as an alternative to a house – on Prospect Rd.
He said 117 Prospect Rd was a “great site for apartments of any size”, including for families and retirees.
“There is a latent demand for really good places – three-bedroom apartments – that is not being met in our city,” Mr O’Loughlin said.
“We urge every developer to think about that and provide that stock – ignore the banks and the so-called experts.”
The sale price for the site was the fourth-highest on Prospect Rd.
The second-highest was a house at 67 Prospect Rd, which sold for $3.2 million in April, and is becoming Ashgrove House Nursery School and Early Learning Centre.
Bower Education chief executive Roger Parolin said the house as it was fit his business’s model of “providing exceptional learning environments in a home-like setting”.
Nearby, the former Commonwealth Bank at 100 Prospect Rd has become a medical clinic after selling for $2.16 million last July.
Mr O’Loughlin said the council was “incredibly disappointed” not to see them become apartment buildings.
A townhouse development at 235 Prospect Rd containing only two-bedroom homes was approved at a meeting on Monday.
Smallacombe Crosby real estate agent Robyn Coles, who is selling the Evoque apartments at 219 Prospect Rd, said there was much more demand for two-bedroom apartments than three-bedroom ones.
“I haven’t had anyone ask for three bedrooms,” Ms Coles said.
However, she said there was demand for higher standard fittings and build on Prospect Rd than on Churchill Rd.
“They’re very different – a different market,” she said.
“I try to push developers where I can so I’m selling a quality product.”
Greg Packer and his partner, Alex Calcutt, bought a two-bedroom apartment at Elysium on Prospect Rd.
He said the quality was higher than he had seen elsewhere and the location was perfect.
“I absolutely love it – it just suits us to a T,” Mr Packer said.
“You walk everywhere.
“We had two cars but we’re going to sell one – it sometimes sits in the garage for two or three days on end.”