lr-cedarwoods-stalbans-ext-001-copy

Life Into St Albans

Market Insights
9 years ago
3 minutes

New residential development St.A is set to revitalise St Albans, delivering new housing stock and a master-planned community just 16 kilometres north-west of Melbourne’s CBD.

Developed by Cedar Woods, the new development is strategically positioned within St Albans and will benefit from significant local infrastructure upgrades.

These upgrades include a new hospital, the removal of two level crossings and the creation of a new train station.

Works to remove the first level crossing began in early October 2015 and will significantly improve safety, train services and minimise congestion in the area.

Leading housing market commentator PRD Nationwide has acknowledged St Albans as a ‘property hotspot’ in the company’s most recent report.

The report states that, “St Albans is well serviced by public transport and is ideal for first home buyers. Investors will also do well in St Albans, with a rental yield of 4.2 per cent.”

As congestion on Melbourne’s roads continues to worsen, pubic transport links are arguably more sought out than ever before.

Footscray development Banbury Village demonstrates the exceptional capital growth encouraged by upgraded rail links.

This Cedar Woods development was strategically built within walking distance of the West Footscray rail upgrades in order to increase the value of housing in the near future.

This strategy was immensely successful for buyers. Case in point, a dwelling built in stage three and purchased for $710,000 in 2009 sold for $1.2 million in October 2015.

Cedar Woods has enlisted DKO Architects to design the St.A development, which will include a mix of 235 contemporary townhouses and detached homes, plus 40 apartments with a mixture of one and two bedrooms.The product mix will appeal to a variety of household types including families with children and couples,” says Nathan Blackburne, State Manager at Cedar Woods Properties.

The estate has been designed to include a landscaped central park that will serve as an urban retreat for residents and friends to gather and a safe place for children to play.

“Cedar Woods has a history of developing similar projects in Victoria and interstate, focusing strongly on achieving strong architectural design outcomes, well considered landscape design, and attractive public spaces,” Blackburne said.

St.A is walking distance to the St Albans Town Centre– the largest local main street shopping precinct in the City of Brimbank– which offers a mix of retail, commercial, recreational and community facilities.

Brimbank City Council has committed to further developing this area, simultaneously boosting amenity and housing value in St Albans.

This will be achieved through a high-quality network of streets and public spaces, framed by well-designed and context-responsive buildings, and an overall scale of development that enhances the sense of activity and safety in the centre.

With these upgrades, St Albans is set to follow the footsteps of Sunshine, a suburb that has sky-rocked in livability in the past five years according to a November 2015 report released by The Age. Sunshine was previously ranked #208 in the city for livability, but now sits inside the top 100 at #96.

The Brimbank City Council St Albans Activity Centre Precinct Structure Plan states, “As gentrification in Sunshine continues it is also expected that St Albans will become a desirable destination for affordable accommodations that may not be available in Sunshine.”

According to the State Government’s Plan Melbourne report, Melbourne’s western sub region (which incorporates St Albans) is forecast to become the fastest growing sub-region across Greater Melbourne.

Sales of stage one at St. A will launch in the coming weeks, presenting the prime opportunity for first homebuyers and investors to enter the market before the new infrastructure and population growth raises housing values further.