Innovative project gives tenants chance to own apartment
LONDON: An innovative multigenerational project is giving its tenants the opportunity to own their own apartments.
A Brunswick development where you start off renting before transitioning to buy your apartment is set to bring a sky-high dog park to the suburb.
The latest project by Assemble is aimed at giving buyers who thought the market had left them behind a second chance to get a foot on the property ladder, with five years to make sure they’re comfortable with the hard yakka necessary before they commit to a home loan.
The 4 Ballarat Street development will also help preserve a piece of Brunswick history, retaining facade elements of the Hard Yakka tradie-wear factory originally built at the site in the 1950s.
Assemble managing director Kris Daff said surging home prices around the city had made the firm’s rent-with-the-option-to-buy model increasingly popular with “thousands” of inquiries for its latest iteration, despite the 171-apartment project’s May 15 launch date.
Most of the interest has come from Melbourne’s inner north and, with 80 per cent of the initial tenants expected to be first-home buyers, the idea of having a goal to work towards today is giving “people priced out of the market a chance to get a foothold”.
Those interested initially sign on for a five-year lease at an agreed rate, then have the option to swap rental payments for mortgage payments — for a price locked in when they sign on for the lease.
They are then provided free financial coaching to help them be in a position to buy when the time comes.
With families upsizing from smaller apartments in the area also expected to buy into the project, it will feature a slew of rooftop features aimed at encouraging residents to stay put long term — including a dog park and wash.
“The part of Brunswick we are in is pretty urban, but we encourage people to have pets — be that a cat, or dog, or a goldfish,” Mr Daff said.
“So we want a space for them to get out and run off the leash.”
A pizza oven, barbecue space, clothes line, laundry and children’s play ground are also headed to the rooftop, while the ground floor features a studio, workshop, cool storage room and bike storage.
Fieldwork architects designed the complex with corrugated iron, bluestone and concrete highlights to link it back to the area’s past.
There will also be an edgy vibe inside with exposed concrete in the open-plan kitchen and living zone, energy efficient appliances and materials that help homes achieve an average 7.5-star NatHERS rating, and scope for a doggie-door opening to the balcony.
Assemble Brunswick will launch homes for rent, with the option to eventually buy, on March 15.
But tenants will not move in until the development is completed in early 2023, with construction expected to commence mid this year.
