The Other Broadway
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday August 17, 2000
A new apartment block's simple approach attracts young, single-income-no-kids execs.
Broadway. The very word conjures up neon lights, energy and aspirations. We must have been listening to too many old pop songs...
For years Broadway in Sydney could only come up with a couple of rather grim shop windows featuring key-cutting or reconditioned refrigerators and, when it was still operating, the rather dowdy charms of the old Grace Bros.
With the redevelopment of the Grace Bros buildings not so long ago, the lights became considerably brighter. Now you can hardly squeeze your way through the crowds surging through the shops and fast-food places, and getting into the cinema on the weekend is sometimes impossible. And, for those who like to do their grocery shopping in the middle of the night, the place is a miracle.
The watering holes within the shopping complex and over the road seem to be doing great business and, on a rather more healthy note, Victoria Park is looking more manicured and inviting every day. No wonder, then, that developers have moved in, transforming all the old warehouses and disused factories that were being used as parking stations. They always sport signs saying things like: Park at your own risk. (If the roof falls on your car, blame Henny Penny, not us.)
The developers of Off Broadway, at 1 Dwyer St, Chippendale - which is a little closer towards the city - have kept things simple. No parking, no fancy swimming pools, no high-profile architect to hang an image on.
Still, according to Judy Glass of the real estate agency Charles and Stuart, Off Broadway has struck a note with time-poor people who just don't want to get caught up with dreary maintenance stuff and would rather spend more time at the office or, better, exercising at a palais de danse.
The development has 45 one-bedroom apartments and studios that have been designed to appeal mostly to post-graduate students or young executives, says Glass, with the prices probably a tad beyond the reach of younger students - although the location is terrific for anyone at Sydney University or the University of Technology. Not that transport is a problem, with Central Station just 300 metres away and buses heading both east and west practically stopping at Off Broadway's doorstep.
The apartments are ideal for people who want to live alone and who are earning a fair wage, but aren't yet ready for the full designer extravaganzas (and the far more impressive prices) of the eastern suburbs, says Glass.
Three of the one-bedroom apartments have private courtyards. (Too late! Too late! They're already sold). But part of the seventh and eighth floors are available to all residents to sit in the sun with a contemplative glass of lemonade.
Each apartment has a sleek kitchen with beech veneer cupboards and granite benchtops. (It must be hard for those living in studios to remember never to fry anything or their doona covers will always smell like takeaway shops.)
Bathrooms have polished dado tiles, ceramic tiles and granite vanity tops. Neat, but not gaudy.
There was a time, not so long ago, when banks just weren't lending on studio apartments in this neck of the woods, but times seem to have changed and banks have realised that not everyone wants to share their private lives, and their bathrooms, with someone else.
Glass says most of the interest thus far has come from investors who already have equity in other property, although she believes banks will lend up to 80 per cent without other property.
For first-time investors, Off Broadway is ideal because it offers a low-entry price but a gross return of 7.5 per cent, says Glass.
It's expected that the Off Broadway project will be finished about mid-September - just in time for people to move in and watch the Olympics from the safety of their own TV.
Apartment prices
Off Broadway
1 Dwyer St, Chippendale
Studios
From $159,950 to $189,000.
One-bedrooms
From $203,000 to $265,000.
Inquiries: 9327 6444
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
