Jamie and Julie Gillespie with children Madeline 8 and John 7 who have bought an apartment at London Residences, West End. Photo: Peter Wallis
The builder went belly up in May but with most of the residences in this boutique inner-city apartment complex already sold to local families, the developer is determined to have their homes ready before Christmas.
London Residences – artist’s impression.
Ninety per cent of the subcontractors who had been working on the London Residences at West End were rehired by Ferro Property Group director Marco Ferro who has continued the build after a five week transition.
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“Bulkbuild went into administration, but because we are builders ourselves and project managers, we turned around things very quickly and got Rodrigues Constructions involved,” Marco Ferro said.
“Basically it would take most people about six months to recover from that but this is not our first project, we’ve been building since the 1960s, we know how it’s done.”
Mr Ferro is also determined to honour the legacy of his late brother and company founder Frank Ferro who passed away in May this year after architecturally designing the London Residences in West End.
Frank Ferro.
“This is the last design that Frank Ferro did personally,” Marco Ferro said.
“We are going to make sure this thing absolutely sings. I’m very attached to this building.”
London Residences – the rooftop terrace.
Currently 20 of the 24 apartments in London Residences have sold to owner occupiers who will be enjoying all the luxuries of a spacious family home with the convenience of inner-city living including Jamie and Julie Gillespie who bought their first level apartment at London Residences off the plan over a year ago and have been watching the build from their nearby apartment on Cordelia Street.
The Gillespie family take a look at the site where their new home is being built. Photo: Peter Wallis
When the builder went into voluntary administration in May, it was the open communication between the developer and buyers that helped them remain confident that the project would be completed.
“They’ve been really great about keeping in touch and have been clear and direct with their communication,” Mrs Gillespie said.
“They explained what had happened and they just moved on with it. It makes such a difference when everything is transparent.”
London Residences – the kitchen layout.
This is the third off-the-plan purchase for the Gillespies who have had property in Sydney and on the Gold Coast.
“Buying off the plan is both wonderful and frustrating at the same time,” she said.
“In Sydney the developer didn’t talk to anyone and we bought on the Gold Coast during the boom times and they didn’t care, they were just churning through.”
“With Ferro (Property) Group, we were impressed even in the way they presented images and plans to you, and measurements on a plan. If putting a bedroom in, they showed it to scale, they didn’t make a room feel bigger.”
Mrs Gillespie, a mental wellbeing consultant, will turn her downstairs storage room into a home office while the apartment has been customised to suit their needs.
“It was just the small things that make life easier, like a nicely laid out wardrobe,” she said.
“They redid the walk-in wardrobe and took the draws out so it’s just hanging space. I have a very tall husband so the extra few centimetres for pants to hang will come in handy.”
The family of four expect to move into their four-bedroom apartment as early as November.
London Residences – large living areas.
The complex will feature apartments with between three to six bedrooms, including three super residences of 350sq m floor space with four-car garages.
“Interestingly we started with 27 residences but we combined apartments for three different owners who wanted two apartments each,” Mr Ferro said.
London Residences – two-level apartments.
The complex has a rooftop terrace with a pool, steam room, day beds, gymnasium, butler’s kitchen and outdoor cinema.
Level two is a dedicated storage level with commercial carpet, power and windows.
“That’s one of our most unique features, the second level. There’s even a powder room there. You can store you winter clothes or doonas,” he said.
“We have doctors, lawyers, empty nesters, and what we find in our buildings is people become very house proud and all are saying the same thing that they want to be here for the next 10-20 years.”
London Residences – ground level renders.
Ferro Property Group moved from building for investors to the owner occupier market five years ago after identifying a need for more personalised house sized apartments in smaller boutique developments.
Other boutique developments in their collection include Edgebrook and Brookwood Residences at Lutwyche in Brisbane’s inner north.
London Residences is not the only development that has recovered after being hit by build setbacks during COVID-19.
Silk One in Woolloongabba, a Sarazin and SouthLake Group residential development, was also on the verge of collapse but a spate of sales to first-time buyers using the recent HomeBuilders grant, has meant construction can continue, with spades in the ground last week.
IN BRIEF
London Residences
10 Bailey St, West End
Developer: Ferro Property Group
Architect: Ferro Arch
Price: Three-bedroom apartments with 153sq m of floor space, a two-car garage and storage space start at $985,000.
Completion date: November, 2020
Details:
ferrogroup.com.au
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