Hawthorn is a suburb where demand for apartments can come from all directions – empty-nesters leaving large houses, investors buying to rent to tenants keen to be near the city and younger buyers who might have grown up in the area and want their first apartment to be in a familiar patch that has proven capital growth.
And while the area has plenty of established blocks, new apartments appeal to plenty of buyers. The latest offering is a 31-apartment development to be built on a deep and elevated site on the northern frontage to Riversdale Road, just east of Power Street.
Galleria Apartments will have three one-bedroom apartments, 26 two-bedroom (four of them with a study) and two three-bedrooms to be built across four levels, with underground parking and storage.
The one-bedroom apartments are 45 square metres but the two-bedroom apartments come in a wide range of sizes and floor plans, ranging from 64 square metres to 103 square metres for those with a study. The three-bedroom apartments range from 106 square metres to 115 square metres.
Designed by Peter Sgourakis Architects for Spec Property Developments, Galleria will be a long, narrow block of apartments, built around a central hallway and offering apartments facing all directions. Landscaping will be designed by John Patrick and the project will have a smart timber-lined entrance to the foyer.
All apartments will have some outdoor area – ranging from seven square metres to 73 swuare metres. A couple of apartments come with two terraces and the first-floor back apartments come with terraces almost as large as their interior.
Prices for two-bedroom apartments range between $595,000 and $925,000 and those with studies begin at $745,000. Interiors are neutral with a light and dark colour scheme that includes parquetry floors in living areas, wool carpet in bedrooms, tiled bathrooms and CaesarStone benchtops in kitchens.
Spec Property’s marketing manager Matt Wheare says buyers have been drawn by the range of floor plans and prices and are mostly young couples or singles and some empty-nesters. All four top-floor apartments have sold. A display suite is open on site Thursdays noon-2pm and weekends 11am-1pm. Construction is expected to begin in April.