Dual key apartments offer new flexibility

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Created on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 06:04

Frasers Property Australia is about to begin offering the first dual key luxury apartments to the Perth market.

The innovative dual key apartments are part of Frasers’ Queens Riverside development at Adelaide Terrace in East Perth.

In a dual key apartment, two dwellings share a common foyer, on a single title. The flexibility allows the owner to occupy one dwelling while earning income from the other, or to let out both dwellings, achieving rental income greater than an equivalent single-occupancy apartment.

The first stage of the $450 million Queens Riverside development is being marketed by Wayne Briggs Project Marketing.

Wayne Briggs recently inspected three landmark projects in Sydney undertaken by Frasers Property Australia, including the new $2 billion ‘Central Park’ development which, like Queens Riverside, combines residential, retail, commercial and leisure components.

He believes Frasers will deliver a new standard of apartment living into the Perth market and he sees a range of new opportunities in the dual key offering.

“The dual key concept is unique to Queens Riverside,” he says. “It offers a real alternative for apartment buyers to reduce their mortgage payments or for investors to generate another income stream.

“We’ve seen a shift in the needs of buyers, where live-in grandparents are not uncommon, nor are adult ‘children’ living at home. Both these scenarios are ideal for the dual-key apartments, where privacy and proximity are combined into the one property.”

Mr Briggs says the dual key offering allows buyers to invest in both the present and the future.

“Buy a dual key apartment; live in the one-bedroom element and take advantage of your purchase in the present property market while you also look after your future wealth and achieve a rental for the single bedroom apartment next door.”

Queens Riverside is located near the Causeway on the site of former Metrobus depot, bordered by Hay Street and Adelaide Terrace, close to the Swan River foreshore. The East Perth Redevelopment Authority has approved apartments and townhouses, commercial space, a new retail precinct and a luxurious apartment hotel for the site.

The first apartments to market are in the QIII (pronounced Q-three) building.

QIII offers 265 apartments, including 58 ‘dual key’ apartments.

Prices at QIII will range from $340,000 for a studio apartment, with dual key apartments from $600,000.

The concept master plan for Queens Riverside was by Jones Coulter Young Architects. The design of QIII is by Perth architect Bruce Robinson - who was also responsible for the design of the Raffles redevelopment.

At 26 storeys, QIII is architecturally bold with a distinctive identity, designed to embrace views of the Swan River, the City and the Darling Ranges.

Next door to QIII will be Fraser Suites Perth, the first Gold Standard serviced residences to be built in the area in more than 14 years and the second serviced residence in Australia managed by international group, Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd.

Janine Thomas of Wayne Briggs Project Marketing believes the strip of restaurants and cafes planned for Queens Riverside, to be known as Eat Street, will breathe new life into the precinct and will essentially become the heart of Queens Riverside.

“It will be a wonderful place to enjoy alfresco dining in Perth’s balmy evenings, or a morning coffee after a visit to the on-site gymnasium,” she says.

“It also means residents will also have the option to be able to pop down to grab some take-away. This type of living is perfect for people with busy lifestyles.”

Frasers Property Australia chief executive officer Guy Pahor said “Queens Riverside demonstrates Frasers’ commitment to the Perth market, where we see good opportunities for growth within ‘urban villages’ which combine living, working and leisure.”

“We know from the success of our existing mixed-use projects that buyers are looking for high quality designs and genuine amenity, with strong growth potential,” he says.