Build Better Apartments: 3 Fresh Options

Sabrina Baker and husband Nagesh Seethiah wanted to buy a house in Melbourne. They had some conditions.

Sabrina said they didn't want to be in a lot of debt in a place they didn't like. They wanted to live in a community and be close to their friends in the city.

Even though they're middle-income millennials, they're living the dream. The high school teacher and chef are happy with their apartment in the inner suburb. Marcel, their two-year-old son, is enjoying the cool breeze with them. They're content with the choices they've made.

Assemble is a place where people live. It's in Kensington. There are 73 apartments in Assemble. The building was designed by an architect. The shops and train station are nearby. The business model is interesting.

Sabrina, Nagesh and Marcel like the fresh wind. Wayne Taylor took a picture of them.

Assemble could solve the apartment design problem in Melbourne's inner suburbs. These areas need more people for growth. Some apartments are terrible to live in, which affects the number of people who want to move there. Assemble is one possible solution.

Many groups are tackling the housing problem in Brunswick. Nightingale and Future Homes are two projects working on this. Nightingale is a popular community. It is medium-rise and based in Brunswick. Future Homes is a project by the state government.

Rent-to-Own: Assembling Possibilities

Sabrina and Nagesh live in a building in Kensington. More buildings like it will come soon. These buildings represent a new financial model. It's called “build-to-rent-to-own”. People rent apartments at market rates for five years. Then, they can choose to buy.

To move in, they need to have saved 10% of the purchase price and get a loan. They can get help from saving plans and financial coaches at the site. The rent is fixed, no matter what happens to the rental market. The purchase price is also known upfront. Anyone whose rent is more than 30% of their income can't move in.

Assemble Kensington has a breezeway between apartments.

Managing Director Kris Daff admits that it's still experimental despite the fact that it's a business and not a charity. The success of the project relies on 60% of the residents buying after five years. He's sure that it will work out financially.

He says they believe in themselves. They will give homes that are so fantastic, people will want to stay. People can try the homes first. They will also know their neighbours.

In spring, people started living there. In December, they were asked if they planned to buy. Most of them said yes.

Sabrina, Nagesh and Marcel live in an apartment. The apartment has a good-sized kitchen, a nice balcony, concrete ceilings, a laundry and two big bedrooms. The bedrooms are bigger than those in many Melbourne apartments. They have a glass front door that faces their neighbor's glass front door across an open breezeway. The door is open to the weather to allow for cross-ventilation.

Sabrina thought it was controversial in the beginning.

She says that nobody is strange for looking in, but you can tell when someone is home because their curtains are closed.

Sophie Rzepecky, Assemble's head of brand, says it's like waving over a fence. They want residents to feel like they're part of a community. Residents got to know each other before they moved in and now use Facebook to chat and plan meet-ups.

Sabrina says she feels connected but not forced to do things she doesn't want to do. She can participate when she wants to. However, a child is willing to babysit and people are enjoying walking their dogs together. They are even parking their bikes in the breezeway.

They met other families at local parks and the cafe downstairs. As renters, they can decorate without fear of a bad agent reference. Also, spilled Weet-Bix doesn't disturb them as much.

"It's hard to have a family in a rental," says Sabrina. "I didn't realize how stressful it was until we moved out."

According to Rzepecky, each floor has 10 apartments. There are also shared spaces such as a rooftop room that can be rented for parties. Additionally, there are amenities like a dog washing area, vegetable garden, laundry line, and sandpit.

You have restrictions on subletting your apartment for two years. Living costs are low due to good insulation and a centrally negotiated power deal. You could have electricity bills as low as $40 per month.

Daff reported that two more buildings will be constructed, one in Brunswick, and one in Kensington. Additionally, a fourth building will be built in Kensington and focus on rentals. This building will prioritize affordable housing, bringing the total of Assemble apartments to 1500.

Superannuation funds, such as Australian Super, have invested in the model. By using a volume manufacturing model and bulk-buying appliances, the cost of building will be lowered. Daff says this will result in reduced costs.

Different sites may have slight differences, but the process will be mostly the same. Super funds predict a 10% return, which is lower than what regular property developers aim for. However, the return should be consistent if everything works out as intended.

Daff says the funds were interested in the impact. The average salary of an Australian Super member is $60,000 to $70,000. They want models that generate a return and enable members to have assets outside super - like owning a home. The first Assemble building doesn't have social housing. But seven apartments are being rented at a lower rate for essential workers.

Sabrina and Nagesh plan to be buyers in five years. They want longevity, security and functionality. They get to choose if they want to buy in the end.

We are very powerful in this situation.

Sustainability And Community With Nightingale

Nightingale is a non-profit organization. In Melbourne, designers, architects, and urban planners recommend it for apartment quality. They are passionate about it.

Nightingale has built lots of blocks in Brunswick. Ten blocks are in Brunswick alone. One block each is in other places too – Brunswick East, Fairfield, Ballarat, Fremantle, and Bowden. More blocks are coming, but one has had some trouble with the council in Brunswick.

These communities are constructed in an eco-friendly way. People pay 10% deposit and purchase an apartment at its actual cost. Price of a studio-style apartment is between $275,000 to $300,00, while one-bedroom apartment can cost between $450,000 to $550,000. You can buy a two-bedroom apartment for $600,000 up to high $700,000s, whereas a three-bedroom one may cost up to $995,000.

People who want to buy an apartment apply in a lottery. The lucky ones get to meet their future neighbors, even if the building is still being built. The apartments have recycled wood floors and concrete ceilings. Architects designed them to be practical and well insulated, with bigger rooms and sun-facing balconies that have space for plants.

There is no car park or washing machine in Nightingale. This is a way to save money and highlight sustainability and community.

Nightingale made a deal with car and ebike sharing schemes instead of a car park. The CEO, Dan McKenna, who's also a resident, said they're close to supermarkets when asked about carrying shopping home on foot.

You can find washing machines and washing lines on the roof for laundry. It's become a popular feature in this model. People aren't worried about hanging their clothes in front of their neighbors, according to McKenna. It saves money and space to have this laundry setup.

Kids share one bath on the roof, so you need to be quick. There are other things up there like a veggie garden, a kitchen you share, and a common area. You'll also find tanks for rainwater, a heater for the building, and solar power.

This space brings people together. Its purpose is to develop a community.

During lockdown, Nightingale held a balcony disco. Supporters believe this shows a strong community.

The model is based on scale. There are not more than 40 apartments in each block. They want people to buy and stay. In Australia, people usually come and go in 6 to 12 months, but they don't want that.

People who move in lose some control. They promise not to sell their apartment for more than the average increase in the area for 20 years. This is in a deed they sign.

McKenna says you don't want people to make money when selling houses at cost. He says no one has broken the agreement yet and they haven't had to take action. Everyone follows the rules.

If things change, people can rent out their property as long as they stick to the rules and don't charge too much money. Airbnb is not allowed. The cash to make the places comes from investors who want to make a difference, like Sefa, retirement funds, and banks.

McKenna manages and enjoys living in the building. She sees it as a wonderful place for her daughter to grow up. Everyone in the building is familiar to her and her partner. They feel it's a great reflection of the types of people they will encounter in life.

Gentle Density For Future Homes

State government wants your couple of suburban blocks of land in Maribyrnong if it's close to an activity centre or train station and council prioritizes it. You can get a plan for an apartment block designed by architects for $15,000.

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect and the state planning department created Future Homes. This project encourages developers, homeowners, and downsizers to increase their neighborhood's density in a "gentle" way.

Builders can construct up to three-storey buildings, enabling them to fit roughly 12-17 apartments within suburban regulation height. Choosing to build with Future Homes provides builders an efficient planning process to bypass any hiccups with VCAT.

Architects design them to be good places to live. The government held a contest for designs. Four were picked and they have to meet special rules like being good to live in, cheap, well-made, earth-friendly, and able to be made on other plots of land all over the city. They are light and airy too.

Andres Lopez, who founded Agency for Design Strategy, was a winning architect. He said that most of his designs were created with IncluDesign. They are usually in the corner of the building. This gives the building ventilation and natural light on three sides. There are also common areas where neighbours can meet each other when they come and go.

He wanted to feel like he belonged and connected with his neighbors and surroundings. This goes against the Australian idea of privacy but helps build a community.

Colombia is where he's from, and community-oriented living is a more common concept there, and it's an older concept as well. Moving to Australia made him realize that social activity is backyard-focused and typically requires an invitation, leaving out the chance encounters that come with semi-public entertaining.

The "Future Homes" plan suggests a way to have privacy while still having a sense of community. You can be seen by others, but in a smart way. Sharing is the main idea.

He says that fortunately, it's possible that in case your old neighbor falls or your child gets lost, others may know how to assist.

The Future Homes plan has apartments. One of the apartments is light and bright. It belongs to the state government.

Jill Garner, Victorian Government Architect for Future Homes, was inspired by The Small Homes Service from the mid-century. This was a collaboration between The Age and architect Robin Boyd. The project produced home designs that showed new ways of living in Australia after the war. These designs included open plans, window walls, sunlight, and cross-ventilation. The designs also emphasised the indoor-outdoor relationship.

She found inspiration in Elwood, a suburb with a high population density due to European migrants. Despite the density, Elwood has lots of trees and early 20th-century apartment buildings with spacious dwellings. The suburb also has a strong sense of community.

Garner wants people to consider density without fear for Future Homes.

The Future Homes designs provide light, air, ventilation, and landscape. The Small Homes Service houses are one of these designs. They are affordable, especially if made in bulk. By building enough of these designs, costs can be reduced. Developers can have a faster planning process for these designs, which avoids challenges that can come with apartment buildings.

Minister Sonya Kilkenny thinks the project will show how apartments can be built with care for the community. It will also create a good place for people to live sustainably.

People have different opinions about it. Builders and commercial developers usually make more money from taller buildings, so it's hard for them to build shorter apartments. The planning department is having trouble getting councils to agree to a two-year test period.

Darebin, Monash and Maribyrnong were meant to join in. But Darebin couldn't meet the State's time limits to review the Future Homes plan.

Tina Samardzija, the Monash mayor, stated that the council won't participate due to a lack of information on the homes' whereabouts and the consequences it could have on current homeowners.

She said they wanted other councils to be more involved. This way, they could see results in different places.

People who believe in denser living often say that councils don't listen to the opinions of future residents. This is because current residents object too much.

Maribyrnong CEO, Celia Haddock, wants to build many low-rise apartments. She thinks that the population will double by 2051. To do this, 1000 new homes will have to be built every year. These apartments will be in established areas.

She stated that our community wants high-quality developments. These developments should prioritize sustainable design and materials. The goal is to improve social cohesion, public transport and green spaces. Additionally, they want ample light.

"How's it going?" you ask. Well, the council has gotten two questions about it, but no developers have applied yet.