Sporting greats have long been the most dazzling thing to come out Wagga; Brownlow medallist Paul Kelly of the Swans, Essendon’s Neale and Terry Daniher, rugby league’s three Mortimer brothers, French Open winner Tony Roche and Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor, among many others.
Now, add penthouse apartments to that list.
It is debatable whether Wagga, halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, is a sworn NRL or AFL town. You’ll need a pub test to confirm that. What is indisputable is just how much people want to live there, and there are numbers to prove it.
The off-the-plan penthouse and the sub-penthouse of Wagga’s new apartment development recently sold for what are believed to be their listing prices of just under $2 million.
“They are the pinnacle of pricing for central Wagga,” selling agent Ryan Smith said.
At 17 levels, Riverside Wagga will be the tallest residential building in the district, and within the riverfront rejuvenation zone. The long-term council-led project is adding community attractions to the precinct, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, and better connecting it to the CBD.
Smith, of PRDnationwide Wagga Wagga, is marketing the remaining apartments.
Smith said Wagga was being built up, after a long time of building out, giving buyers more options in the city centre. The buyers were typically farmers coming into town, folk from metro areas, university students, or transitional residents on employment contracts with the army and the air force, he said.
“It’s very unique – we are not a dense CBD, we’ve had a lot of urban sprawl, and this is one of the very first to go up.”
Smith said Snowy 2.0, the major hydro-power project involving tunnelling between the Tantangara and Talbingo dams, would bring more buyers and tenants to town (Wagga is the closest regional hub).
Flash points for real estate include Gobbagombalin, next to Charles Stuart University, and Lloyd, neighbouring the army base, offering brand new houses, on 800 to 1000-square-metre blocks, for families.
“But central Wagga Wagga is always popular – the Federation homes, smaller blocks, red brick cottages,” Smith said.
“They are the three biggest areas where the buyer pool has been; they either want the luxury lifestyle in the suburbs, or they are pushing into the city. There are a lot of working families and couples in the CBD, farmers cashing out, there are a lot of stylish properties in there.”
Rental properties are also a hot commodity.
Agent Toby Harris, also from PRDnationwide Wagga Wagga, said his office leased 40 homes in March. He said the volume was driven by the social climate and the ease at which house hunters were able to secure a tenancy online.
“With COVID-19, it was possibly people trying to get in somewhere before it hit properly, even though it was well and truly here,” Harris said.
“Our office took initiative and started doing things differently in terms of how we were promoting property, and how we were letting people go through properties virtually. We let people find their house without going through the rigmarole of 10 to 15 inspections during the week, choosing something, and then it was gone. It was streamlining the process for people.
“For the time of year and circumstances we were under, it is a big number but not unheard of – we were getting close to 50 around Christmas time.”
Michael Keys, Wagga Wagga City Council’s director for regional activation, said investment would see the city continue to grow as a “regional capital”.
“We have affordable housing, we have fantastic lifestyle opportunities, we have a great mix of education, health and support services. But if we don’t have jobs, then we are not going to continue to grow, and we need to create those jobs and investment opportunities to ensure that the city can reach its full potential.”
A partnership with the NSW government – one of only five across the state – would expand an established industrial business park with large employers, to add 5000 jobs over the next 30 to 40 years, Keys said.
Stage one of the $6.7 million Riverside Strategic Master Plan involved renewing the famous Wagga Beach – a unique inland swimming spot considered one of the best “beaches” in Australia. The second stage, adding playgrounds, event spaces, and pop-up containers selling food and drinks, is going to tender.
Source: Domain