Village and land lease operators are being challenged to think big. Six Star hotelier Four Seasons will offer a one-bed strata apartment for $682,000 in Southbank.
Check out this story from Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald.
It says “Four Seasons is bringing branded apartment towers here when it opens its STH BNK site in Melbourne as part of a $2.3 billion development partnership with luxury property developer Beulah.”
It will comprise of a “210-room hotel and 691 apartments, with one-bedroom units starting at $682,000.”
“The project is set to be a ‘‘massive mini-metropolis’’ that will span two separate high-rise structures. The skyscrapers will become Australia’s tallest towers and be home to the tallest vertical garden in the world, at 5.5 kilometres, nearly 1.5 times the length of the Tan running track in Melbourne.”
Now check out this Four Seasons video promoting their Private Residences and their web site.
The SMH article points out there are approximately five such retirement strata hotels in the pipeline in Australia and they are already an accepted seniors accommodation alternative internationally.
And it is not a new phenomenon. I found this simple Canadian video developed by a retiring couple that explains in Toronto one lower to mid value hotel has just swapped 60 rooms over to long term rental. What they say (if you stick to the end of the video – 9 minutes) makes sense.
And here is an international promotor of hotels:
The point is, retirees will find alternatives to living in a decaying family home that is isolated from the community and costing cash to maintain. We all have said a village is like a hotel with like minded guests.
Hotel developers are recognizing they can get a firm upfront cash injection from strata sales, de-risking the project and guaranteeing people use its facilities, spreading the fixed overheads.
The average home in Melbourne is $920,000, meaning there are a lot of people who will comfortably be able to afford to buy into the Four Seasons, and as Four Seasons says, the capital appreciation is greater in a Four Seasons residence compared to the general market.
Land lease and village operators take note.
