How the lure of city living is drawing downsizers to West Village: Urban Buyer Q&A
When Brisbane lawyer Rebecca Stevens and her husband started thinking about downsizing, they weren't too sure where to start.
They knew they wanted to be closer to the city from their family home in Bardon, which was getting too big with their four kids all starting to finish university.
"We wanted city living again," Rebecca said, adding that lifestyle factors, like proximity to the city and walking distance to cafes and restaurants, were two key criteria in their search.
"We started looking around New Farm and other riverside areas, but we couldn't find anything that we really loved within our budget," Rebecca recalled.
The couple also knew they wanted something dog-friendly for their small dog, which is why they initially started their search in the established house market.
It was a visit to West Village, the $1.2 billion West End masterplanned community by Sekisui House Australia, which changed their mind.
Rebecca had in fact suggested her parents move into West Village several years earlier, having spotted a Facebook ad for a French Christmas market being held on the lawns at West Village, and floated the idea of downsizing to her parents.
It wasn't until last year that Rebecca considered West Village as an option for her and her husband when she went to visit her parents.
"We never thought we'd want to live there, but we loved the idea of the lifestyle," Rebecca admitted, but having spent more time in the community, and a well-placed signboard, the couple's interest was piqued.
"There's always been signage throughout the community talking about what's happening next. When we visited we noticed a signboard with a dog that looked a lot like ours and that turned our heads a little as we hadn't considered apartment living with the dogs.
"Dog-friendly living was something we thought we would never find in an apartment building, but to have an off-leash dog park on the roof of the building, communal dog wash facilities, and just to know having pets in the building was welcomed, that was a huge drawcard for us."
Rebecca will soon be able walk to work in the city and will be in the immediate proximity to cafes, restaurants and retail, all located within West Village which is a thriving community having first started its development nearly a decade ago.
Rebecca's apartment, and the rest of the Allere Collection, are slated for completion mid-next year by regarded builders Hutchisons. There are only a handful of the four and five-bedroom apartments left in the Opulent Release.
Rebecca took part in Urban's Buyer Q&A series which focuses on the driving factors behind buying off the plan property in Australia.
