Western Suburbs Weekly
BOTANICAL Apartments was among the winners at the 2019 Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) WA’s 2019 Awards for Excellence this month.
The six-level 74-apartment development by Edge Visionary Living won the Medium Density Award.
UDIA WA chief executive Tanya Steinbeck said the high-end apartment project catered to those wanting to downsize without compromise.
“The judges could not go past the lush, natural internal areas that truly bring the outside in, along with an impressive rooftop communal area and sustainability measures, including smart metering and electric car bays,” she said.
Mirvac’s rent-to-buy program at Claremont was a joint winner in the Excellence in Marketing category. The initiative aims to get more people into home ownership by eliminating the need to save a deposit, which is one of the biggest barriers to home ownership.
Stirling Capital received the evening’s top honour, the Russel Perry Award for Urban Development Excellence, for Cirque, Mt Pleasant.
The project also won the high density development category, with the judges saying it set a high benchmark for future development in the burgeoning Canning Bridge precinct.
The luxurious apartment building has successfully tapped into the growing downsizer market, with a significant number of buyers from the surrounding area looking to swap their larger family
homes for an easier care, convenient lifestyle.
“Featuring resort-style facilities, impeccable finishes, along with significant sustainability features, Cirque is representative of what many downsizers in these types of areas are seeking,” Ms Steinbeck said.
The awards showcased a mix of high-rise, medium-density urban renewal, along with more traditional new land developments and Ms Steinbeck said they reflected the changing nature of Perth and WA’s urban landscape.
“While we continue to see young families looking to the suburbs for larger family homes, there is a growing cohort of new homebuyers seeking smaller, lock-and-leave homes,” she said. “The development industry is successfully responding to buyer demand and State Government plans for a denser, more connected city.
“These awards are an opportunity to see and understand the quality development that is occurring and how the development industry is contributing to the quality places that make up our community.”