JUST THE CAT’S MEOW FOR RENTERS
BEING allowed to have pets and hang pictures on the apartment walls is a gold medal idea for tenants contemplating moving in at the Smith Collective.
For Morgan Kallman, 23, and Harley Faulkner, 25, promises of these extra freedoms and a “sense of community’’ at the former Commonwealth Games athletes village in Southport have not gone unnoticed.
“I think it was the sort of marketing that showed us how they were reinventing renting, like you can paint the walls, hang up pictures and have pets … that drew us to it,” Ms Kallman said.
“I have a cat and she comes everywhere with me.”
The Griffith University student said it was great to be right next to the university, while her partner could easily catch a tram to work.
The 18-tower site will start taking in its first residents on January 14, with the pair moving into a one-bedroom apartment on the eighth floor four days later. They will pay $370 a week.
JLL head of residential Tina Grey said Australia’s first “build to rent’’ development was modelled on the success of suimilar projects in the UK and US.
Apartments or town houses are not for sale. Instead, the mini-city’s 1251 dwellings are only available to rent.
“The response has been phenomenal, we’re absolutely thrilled,” Ms Grey said. A one-bedroom apartment starts from $360 a week, a two-bedroom apartment at $460 a week and a three-bedroom townhouse at $595 a week.