Sitting proudly at one of Auckland’s most central and convenient locations, this high-quality Safari Group development offers easy, flexible living options at realistic prices.
As demand for well-built connected living continues to grow, driven primarily in response to the general lack of residential property in New Zealand’s biggest city, certain developments stand out. Safari Group, who not only conceptualise and construct their apartment complexes, but also market and manage them too, has an impeccable record for delivering superior units in carefully considered, well-designed projects with a strong focus on creating urban communities of the future.
Director Simon Taylor says that The Residences is a particularly exciting offering in terms of its location in Central Park, home to the headquarters of many major kiwi companies. It lies just minutes from Ellerslie train station and the vibrant community of Ellerslie Village itself, which is a popular hub for locals with cafes, bars, boutiques and an iconic Four-Square grocery store. The development also enjoys easy motorway access both north-and south – and by train it’s just eight minutes from trendy Newmarket, with its new 277 Westfield flagship shopping mall, and the downtown Auckland’s fast developing CBD is only about 15 minutes away.
“The housing market is undergoing a reshuffle, with the government announcing an extension to the bright-line test period for existing properties from five to ten years and looking to remove interest deductibility on rental investment property,” Taylor says.
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“This policy shift has caused many property investors, to hit the pause button on their activities, while they work to understand the impacts on their path forward. This, for many has resulted in a recalibration towards new-build apartments - where the bright-line cut-off is still five years, interest offset benefit looks set to remain in place and cashflow positive product is available,” says Taylor.
While Safari Group developments are largely targeted at landlords, with the aim of creating and supplying much needed quality rental housing, Simon Taylor points out that first-home buyers can also get their feet in the door relatively easily, at The Residences, one-bedroom units starting from $595,000, two-bedroom units from $845,000, and dual-keys (two separate, self-contained units on one title) coming in at around the $915,000 mark.
Put simply, a dual-key property in The Residences, comprises a studio plus a one-bedroom apartment, each with its own access via a shared entry space, and its own kitchen, providing an investor with the potential to live in one and let the other out on a short, or a long-term basis, or to let both, depending on his or her unique situation. The dual space can also be utilised as one home, so it offers significant versatility.
All apartments in The Residences are well-equipped, with a high level of finishes used throughout – including superior LVT flooring and engineered stone benchtops in the kitchens. The European-styled bathrooms are sleek and streamlined with elegant, imported tiles, and a heat pump in each unit allows for efficient heating and cooling, all-year-round.
Simon Taylor believes that all sorts of investors will see value in The Residences, with its Safari Group signature.
“We’ve worked hard to become a respected and innovative developer and everything we do is a team effort,” he says.
“We always strive to produce superior offerings that will stand the test of time, while fitting comfortably within their surroundings.”
Interest rates are currently tipped to remain at record lows for at least the next two or three years, so savvy investors can largely expect to avoid unanticipated surprises.
“I think that here in New Zealand we need to look more towards the European or North American model, where it’s quite typical to start with a boutique studio - as young buyers, then move to a one or two-bedroom apartment; always building up equity along the way, in order to potentially purchase a family home,” says Taylor, adding that the days of the typical kiwi ‘half-gallon, quarter-acre, pavlova paradise,’ are more or less over in Auckland, whilst fast diminishing in other kiwi main centres too.
He points out that apartment living can still be a green affair, yet without onerous tasks such as flower beds to weed and lawns to mow. People living at The Residences – both renters and owners – can take advantage of an exclusive, beautifully-landscaped roof garden, carefully angled at promoting a sense of neighbourliness.
“We’re also transforming some of the car parking that’s currently at Central Park, into more leafy spaces and incorporating a café, gym and other features in the development to add further value and appeal for residents,” he says.
In keeping with their philosophy of never cutting corners and always presenting their best possible work to the market, Safari Group is using only the best quality materials in constructing The Residences.
The building’s structure is simple but solid, with steel framing and concrete floors raising from concrete piles anchored into the basalt rock below.
The exterior of The Residences will be handsomely clad in a unitised curtain-wall façade system, something that Safari has become known for. This façade system not only provides an architectural aesthetic that offers all-day light through a high level of glazing, but also ensures your investment is weather tight, thermally comfortable and acoustically sound.
For more information, please phone 0800 790 790.
