NSW Leichhardt Duplex Development - case study

This is a project we completed and sold last year. Its quite special to @Morgs and myself because its given me the confidence to focus on future projects and given Morgs the time to concentrate on his mortgage business.

The build was completed for around $1.05m. There were some complications around protecting the roots of a tree next door, and building a separate detached garage with studio above. I also allowed for higher-end finishes like marble, underfloor heating, walk-in pantry, oak flooring etc

Additional costs came in around $80k for approvals (complying development), council contributions, driveways, permits etc

Overall I'd do the project again in a heartbeat, if only I could find a similar site again

Before:


After:




More pics here:
11 National Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040 - Property Details

 

Stunning styling, Meristone!

Where do you get ideas for decorating? Did you do a course? Or just picked it up over time?

 

Nice, i like your style is that window and door colour monument?

 

I sourced every single finish and styling item myself and it was hard to do it under budget! I've just picked it up over time, if you look at my Annandale reno thread, that styling was so 'blah' 4 years ago lol.

 

Yup I love monument!

 

Like the rendering with wood look and glass balustrade. Neat and modern façade for a duplex. Also like the colors chosen.

What was your return on TDC if you don't mind me asking.

 

We worked towards 20%, ended up with about 27% because the market was strong, but after gst and taxes we're back down somewhere around 20%.

 

The pictures look good, I couldnt have imagined the use of gold and black-matt together but you have made it work.

If you would like to, please do share size of land and end sale results.

While selling, did you have any comments regarding the use of carpet on first floor? some people can get iffy about it and prefer hardwood / bamboo.

 

Matt black and brass are all the rage

The land was only 255sqm each side and sale price was $2.265m each.

For the inner west demographic the carpet upstairs worked ok, I think if I was going say further west near where you're building I would have to consider tiling downstairs and timber upstairs.

 

My partner says the exact same thing to me
...all the rage ....she learnt that term not long ago and now it's all I hear ..

 

Welldone, great price for that size of land and while I dont know how much you bought the land for, the build cost is reasonable.

At that price range, the holding cost while building can turn out to be big but in any case very justified with your final result.

 

Beautiful work.

Can I ask a couple of questions?

For a 3 bedroom/upper price range house what was the feedback on the cupboard laundry? I think they make a lot of sense but curious if people in this price bracket are able to "get over" it

I particularly like how you did the light well and got lots of light into a narrow house.

Great interior and exterior design. The studio and bathroom on top of the garage is a nifty move.

 

Thankyou, the courtyard/lightwell was planted with 5m bamboo for greenery and privacy, but also allowed us to fit with CDC requirements which limited shared wall to 20m.

I put laundry provisions in the garage too as it was essentially a 5brm house, but didnt get any feedback that the cupboard was an issue. The area is quite used to small random laundries I think.

 

well done. buy the site next door and do it all over again?

 

Great work and amazing styling!

How long did they take to sell?

Did you consider trying to sell off the plan? Probably not the right product for an off the plan sale but always worth considering.

 

I like the garage and studio at the back similar to what they did on the block in elsternwick and its a real winner when there is Rear lane access

What complications did you have with the studio?

 

We sold one at auction, and second one was sold at the same price about 3 weeks later off market. June/July last year was literally when the market was turning so it was a good result.

I didn't consider OTP at the time, and in hindsight I'm glad I didn't, as its not really the market for it and it just presents so much better at the end. I think finishes are one of my strengths and really needs to be seen to be appreciated.

 

The separate studio slabs added to the cost, and we had to modify the engineering to reduce damage to a neighbours tree roots. We were lucky it was quite a wide lane so it was good for deliveries etc. The CDC restrictions meant the studio was limited to 20sqm so it was hard to make it functional.

 

Looks great. Well done. Can I ask - where did you source the lights over the kitchen island?

 

Would you believe I bought them online from Europe - at the time I hadn't seen a similar hammered bronze look and loved it. Now bunnings have something similar