Adelaide Infill Development - Three townhouses, significant tree

Good progress made on paper - met a few builders earlier in the month - very close to having a full, independent set of documentation ready to go to them for a competitive tender / quote (and hopefully avoid variations / 'surprises' down the track!). ~$15k and two months down and....

• Full set of working drawings done with soil classification, footing design, framing design, structural engineering, energy reports
• Specification with selections / PC allowances on appliances / tiles etc close to being finalised
• Electricity abolishment booked in to allow for demolition (2+ month wait!…a trap on a simple 1 into 2 subdivision I've done before)

Two key learnings

• Even 'simple' architectural elements increase cost - the skillion / butterfly roof form on this development - an ode to mid century design - costs more than your bog standard hip / valley with no eaves. Additional materials to clad all that extra side elevation (above the ceiling) and additional wind bracing from all that extra surface area. Only one other example I can find of a developer using anything other than a hip/valley in that price range.
• Changes take time the longer you leave it - removing one window suddenly compounds onto the framing plan then the structural layouts then the window schedule then the cost estimate....

Not so good progress - can't get one of the neighbours to consent to allow for the removal of the existing fence (to construct the garage wall on boundary) with objections from them flying left, right and centre on everything from the colour of the wall to the extra traffic created

The South Australian Development Act works relatively well in finding the right balance of public consultation in the planning process - for instance this application didn't require public notification / advertising - but leaves things like removing a fence at the mercy of endless Notices to Fence and Cross Notice objections.

 

Where you get this chart from? Thanks

 

Your spreadsheet is fantastic.
May you share your spreadsheets? Can you PM it?

 

Skillions and box gutters do tend to add $$$$.

Do you think you'll change the roof to bring costs down?

Other ideas for decreasing costs
- check all forms of firewalls between the buildings. Some systems are cheaper than others and just as good.
- different claddings cost different amount for similar look. For example James Hardie Axon is about the same price as JH Easylap but looks way nicer in my opinion. JH Matrix is very very expensive and best avoided or only small 'wow' amounts used
- reduce your wow to small items with big impact - a feature colour at the entrance, a splashback in the kitchen
- reduce ceiling heights. If you have elected to have 2700 for both floors reduce to 2550 for the ground and 2400 for the top
- use standard size windows
- tiling to living areas is very practical instead of real wood. You can get porcelain plank woodlook tiles which are quite economical.

 

Interesting list! Didn't realise there was such a difference between Matrix and the other FC products! We've got a 60/60/60 Boral Partiwall 25TP system specified.

Subject to tenders coming back in, I think the cost is where it needs to be (higher than initial feasibility, less than before going through rounds of value engineering, few upsides with the commercial / bulk Bosch appliances coming in quite a bit lower than budget etc).

Given the Design / Documentation phase is taking little longer than I had scheduled, will go ahead with the skillion as designed - it'll cost a further two/three weeks to recycle on the framing / timber lists / documentation which, puts us well into 2017 to try and tender for a start!

Literally compiling off every new REA.com.au listing for the last ~6 months in the comparable area. I've found RP Data is good for that sort of bulk export (floor area, bed sizes) when settled sales go into their system, but given the volume of OTP, there's nothing quite like trawling every other developers floor plans and seeing what GFA they are offering in a big spreadsheet!

 

Hi Lara,

Thanks for this, really interesting. I'm also looking at doing my first development in SA, and interested if you can tell me about the screening feasibility and cost breakdown. Did you do this yourself, or did your financier do it for you? It looks very professional!

 

Thanks Simon - I pulled the feasibility together myself at the start and referred the construction costs to an estimator to get cost feedback after planning approval.

I think plotting the cash flow over time (used MS Project) against key milestones is useful to help

• estimate the equity / cash drain it takes to pull documentation / approvals together at the front of the project before the construction loan kicks in
• estimate the cash drain (if financing resi) at peak debt when the construction loan is fully drawn down

 

Does anyone maybe know someone like this In Melbourne. I might have need for one in the future.

 

I know excellent arborist in Melb he once worked for council, as arborist

can not fudge this stuff as it's regulated and must meet standards as per Aust guidelines, no one in their right mind would do this unless they want to lose their livelihood and reputation

 

Lara curious any reason you did not develop in Melbourne? Booming market you live in Melb?

 

In my experience there are development friendly arborists, biodiversity, cultural heritage consultants etc etc and then there are non development friendly ones.

 

Yes, you could be right.... I have a friendly one which my Friendly Town Planner recommended who also once worked for Council...... but just saying they still need to follow the Aust guidelines.

 

Please PM details.

 

Diary so far...!

Day 140: Lender approved demolition
Day 141: Electricity disconnected
Day 143 (AM):

Pre-Demolition by Lara Lansell posted 12th Jan, 2017 at 10:38 PM

Day 143 (PM):

Day 143 by Lara Lansell posted 12th Jan, 2017 at 10:38 PM

Day 155: That pile of mulch for the Tree Protection Zone felt a lot bigger when it was 38 degrees in Adelaide!

Day 151 by Lara Lansell posted 12th Jan, 2017 at 10:38 PM

 

Day 181: Builder appointed - tendered the project out to four builders - to a mix of 5 homes/year and 100 homes per year type volumes - prices came back within +/- 3% of each other. Opted for a highly specified turnkey contract - down to the door handle and the letter box model - with only the demolition happening outside of the contract to enable that to run in parallel with the tender process.

Outside of build contract
1. Subdivision fees, surveying
2. Design, certification
3. Demolition

Within the contract - $1650/m2 of GFA
1. Construction
2. Landscaping / fencing
3. Driveways
4. Air conditioning, floor finishes, appliances etc

Have been getting on great with successful contractor so far - he is a 'one man' team - no chance of miscommunication or getting a dud site supervisor allocated to the job. By coincidence, he also lives a few streets away from the site which makes for frequent supervision. Good, frequent communication

Day 205: Bank valuation came back in - end values were 2.5% above the initial feasibility. The finance is a full doc RAMS product based on a long-form valuation. No QS fees, resi rates and cash out to fund costs outside of the build contract. Really, really good to deal with - helped having all the documentation all in order as part of the tender process.

Day 220: We have (deep) footings!

 

Day 224: Rebar & vapour barrier


Day 226: Slab!


Day 240: Framing

 

Looking great, arrange an Adelaide member inspection

 

Any updates on this? Looks like a great project.

 

Not sure if you have seen these already @Lara Lansell these are right around the corner from me.
They would be pretty similar to what you're doing.

27 Farnham Tce Dernancourt SA 5075 - Sale Price $447,500 - Settlement Date 20/12/16
27B Farnham Tce Dernancourt SA 5075 - Sale Price $442,000 - Settlement Date 15/12/16

 

Thanks Brady! These were under construction at the time of acquiring the site - one of the few examples of a 1 into 3 row dwelling in the area. Having that as a comp offered us (and presumably the bank!) some confidence that end values would hold up.

Construction is progressing well, musings / learnings so far

- Boundary to boundary construction and minimum setbacks are great on paper, tough during execution: site is real tight for deliveries due to front setbacks; getting access to the rear after wall framing is limited due to boundary to boundary

- Concerned with the level of supply coming on in the North East - I count ~31 townhouses in planning / BRC within 1km - compared to ~6 completions in the last 12 months.