‘We’re not garden people’: Luxury tower has families flocking to it – realestate.com.au

Dad-of-four James MacGinley is the first to admit his wife’s idea was to swap his five-bedroom house for a three-bedroom apartment.

They originally planned to rent out their apartment at Monarch Residences in Toowong as an investment, but once the building started to take shape, Claire changed her mind.

“It was Claire’s idea to be honest,” Mr. MacGinley said. “I was probably a little slower on the uptake.

Construction of Monarch Residences by Consolidated Properties is almost complete. Photo: Nigel Hallett

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“It’s not just about the building, it’s about the whole lifestyle around it. You’ve got the river, the village, the café culture, schools nearby. It feels like a great place to raise children.”

The MacGinleys are part of a growing group of young families and couples turning away from suburban backyards in favor of apartment living.

“When Claire and I decided to move in with the kids and started talking to our friends and other parents at school about it, it was really interesting to see people’s reaction,” MacGinley said. “Instead of, ‘Really?’ the response was; “That’s such a good idea.”

Inside one of the apartments in Consolidated Properties Group’s Monarch Residences.

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They have purchased a three-bedroom apartment with a multi-purpose room in the project being delivered by Consolidated Properties and Hutchinson Builders, which is almost completely sold out and on track for completion later this month.

As their children – Ella, 13, Millie, 11, Annabelle, nine, and Charlotte, seven – get older, the MacGinleys also see more reasons to move.

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“It’s going to be tight because the kids have to share rooms, but they’re at an age where they can still do that,” said MacGinley, head of residential at Consolidated Properties.

“I’m actually a gardener and I enjoy looking after the garden, but realistically, as the children get older we find that they don’t get drawn outside as much as they used to, so you spend a lot of time maintaining an outside space, but if no one uses it it becomes a bit of a thankless task.”

QLD REAL ESTATE: Promotional images for Monarch Residences in Toowong, from Hutchinson Builders and Consolidated Properties Group.

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Jack Hutchinson, director of Hutchinson Builders, has also made the decision to move his family into an apartment at Monarch Residences.

“We’re not gardeners,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve lived in apartments in London, Sydney and Brisbane. We want to walk to dinner, take the kids and dog along the river, and not spend weekends mowing a garden we barely use.”

Only three of the 224 apartments remain, with direct river views and priced from $3.5 million to $4.5 million.

Construction of Monarch Residences, which is being delivered by Hutchinson Builders and Consolidated Properties Group, is almost complete.

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The largest penthouse topping the project has been retained by Don O’Rorke, Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Properties, while the second largest penthouse sold for just under $8 million, representing approximately $28,000/sqm internally.

Scaffolding has now come down from the Twin Towers, allowing the finishing touches to be put in place for a mix of professionals, downsizers and young families to move in before Christmas.

“It’s funny,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “We built and developed it, but now we can live in it. That is quite special.”