New York! New York!

If any of our readers or their friends are moving to New York they should check out this apartment.

It's being sold by a lovely New York couple who own one of the apartments that we manage in the Conservatory. They are moving to Adelaide to live in the near future so now is the time to talk a deal with their New York agent!

http://www.barakny.com/listing_details.aspx?listingid=785571

Falling in love with Hindmarsh Square

Named after the first Governor of South Australia, Rear Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh (1785 to 1860), this beautiful location is building up a complement of apartment buildings around the edge of the park, giving it a 'Central Park' feel. It started with the Mantra building about 6 years ago, which now operates as an all suite hotel with a smattering of owner occupiers and long term tenants with most of the apartments in the hotel letting pool.

This project was followed up by the Conservatory complex - a genuine mixed use building incorporating a retail ground floor, 2 levels of carparks, several floors of offices, and upper storeys containing around 60 apartments with great views over the square.

In the north eastern corner of the square, 2 more buildings are currently under construction. The Crowne Plaza Hotel, and 20 Hindmarsh Square are both nearing completion.

20 Hindmarsh Square will add another 89 apartments to the square's housing stock and we are reliably informed that the project is now virtually 80% sold. It is a 16 level building with ground floor retail, carparking, and 13 levels of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments all with balconies overlooking the square or east toward the Adelaide Hills.

The Crowne Plaza will be a 5 star hotel run by the well-known Intercontinental group, containing 308 rooms and suites. The spa, steam room, gym and pool are all available to 20 Hindmarsh Square residents as part of the package. We are sure that the restaurant, conference facilities and retail space will all add to the amenity and attractions of Hindmarsh Square.

We hope that the trend of high quality apartment projects continues, and we think the Rear Admiral would agree!

The Conservatory - Completed!

Remember our last story about this project? Up until now, the only images we had were outside shots of the building, and computer generated artist impressions. The development was completed a few weeks ago, so we were able to let Derek and his camera loose in it, to bring you these photos of the interiors.

Marketed as Adelaide's first "green" high rise apartment and office building, this 19 level building contains 53 apartments and claims to have massive reductions in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and waste to landfill.

We had sold 4 apartments for first purchasers prior to settlement and completion, and pre-leased 2 apartments for clients, so we were really looking forward to seeing the completed product.

We were not disappointed - the building is impressive, and definitely raises the benchmark for city apartments.

The finishes are great and the apartments have a wonderful clean, contemporary feel with natural light to all bedrooms and nice big living spaces and balconies. The basement houses the heated pool, gym and steam room - all well designed and with plenty of equipment. The Hindmarsh Square views are stunning and even many of the carparking spaces have park views through louvre windows!

See (lots) more photos

See our sale listings in the building

See our rental listings in the building

How's the market looking?

We are definitely feeling more optimistic than a few months ago and the level of enquiry from investors and owner occupiers is increasing. We also recently completed 2 significant apartment sales at 223 North Terrace for $720,000 and in The Conservatory at Hindmarsh Square for $725,000.

The Australian Financial Review has written about a recent report which says that the value of home loans increased by nearly 33% from August 2008 with first home buyers responsible for 28% of mortgages issued in May 2009. Also, according to the National Bank's latest quarterly report, business confidence has jumped substantially in the 3 months to June 2008. When you factor in the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate cut from 7.25% in August 2008 to 3% in April of this year, as well as the impact of the first home owners boost of up to $21,000, sales activity just had to get better.

So all the ingredients for an increase in residential sales activity are present - low interest rates, government grants, and increasing business and consumer confidence.

If only the Crows and Power could win every week our local market would be back in boom mode by late spring!

The Conservatory on Hindmarsh Square Adelaide.

This is the city's first high quality mixed use building situated on the corner of Hindmarsh Square and Grenfell Street.

We think this 18 level tower looks great and can't wait to see the interiors of the apartments. We're told the building will be ready for occupation in late August, and we are sure the buyers will all be pretty excited about handover.

We have already on-sold some 2 bedroom apartments for first purchasers who bought off the plan, the latest was last week for

a sale price of $735,000.

We have also pre-leased a 3 bedroom apartment for $890 per week. Our owners are New Yorkers who will be visiting Adelaide in August to see their new apartment. The tenant is a retired Adelaide businessman who wants to try city apartment living. We reckon he will love the lifestyle and end up buying one for himself!

See our sale listings in the building

See our rental listings in the building