Five Kyabram real estate projects are on track to give the town an injection of almost 600 new homes in the next two years as developers emerge from a series of frustrating COVID-19 and permit delays to gather momentum on their projects.
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Edge Kyabram (a 210-home development), Lakeside Estate (34 lots), Blue Gum Fields (74) and Sunrise Estate (stage two is 39 lots and there are several more stages to come) are all in the construction phase, while the much-talked-about Kyabram Greens project (a 200-plus home estate) continues to advertise heavily.
Blue Gum Fields’ 74-lot development is to the west of the town, on Brose Rd, and about 200m down the road from the Kyabram Greens site, which adjoins Parkland Golf Club.
On the opposite side of the golf club, facing directly onto the Kyabram Fauna Park Lake, is the 34-lot Lakeside Estate being developed by Sun Country Property.
Stage two of Victoria Properties Sunrise Estate project, in the south-east corner of the township, has overcome the challenge of satisfying council and VicRoads requirements to be ready to continue.
The largest of the developments is Edge Kyabram, where developer Simon Eishold is finally being rewarded for his patience as the first homes are now under construction.
Construction of home lots for stages one and two are already under way, while stage three titles are expected to be in the hands of purchasers in the next month.
Mr Eishold said block owners of stages one, two and three had indicated to him they planned to start building their homes before the end of 2024.
“Stages four and five are under construction and have a park aspect. This part of the estate has 36 lots and our green space and retention basin,” he said.
There are a number of stages yet to be developed at the expansive 210-lot subdivision, but among the most exciting is the development of housing around the wetland facility of the estate.
There are a dozen 1500sq m blocks on offer in the latter stages of the project, with the first three stages including almost 60 blocks and built along streets with names reflecting the Yorta Yorta connection to the land.
A bulk of the lots, 140 in fact, range in size from 500-1000sq m.
Stages six and seven at The Edge, which total 36 lots, will be offered in mid-2024.
Blue Gum Fields has gained significant ground on the other developments in the past three months, developers of the Brose Rd site confirming the development is on track for completion by the end of 2025, with stage one to be completed early 2024.
Broadford-based company Wright’s Earthmoving is currently on-site and, despite some wet weather earlier this year, has maintained the program it has communicated from the outset.
TW Projects developer Jack Townley said he expected this momentum to continue and the project delivered on time to purchasers.
“Stage one is 18 blocks and 14 are sold, which shows how popular the project is given the market conditions,” he said.
“We expect sales to continue as construction progresses.”
Mr Townley said stage two of the development would be on the market shortly.
He said interest had come from a mixture of people from the Kyabram area and people relocating to the area.
“Inquiries have been very strong among upsizers and first homebuyers in particular,” he said.
He said completing the road network and electrical installation was the next step, before starting the landscaping of the reserve that was designed to provide a drainage asset for the project.
The large blocks, which range from 2000-2600sq m, are currently being advertised from $239,000 and are a speciality of TW Projects.
“We have a project in Lethbridge that was 53 lots that ranged from 4000sq m to 6500sq m. We have another project in Yea that is currently under construction that has lots from 4000sq m and above,” Mr Townley said.
Menzies Property managing director Gary Evans is planning to make up on some lost time after a longer-than-anticipated wait for permit approval on the development plan overlay.
“We plan to work with council through the permit conditions and design to make up some time,” he said.
Mr Evans said stages one and two were available, with only a handful of blocks left in stage one.
“We are currently working through the permit conditions, which should take about six months and allow us to be on-site in the construction phase by the end of March next 2024,” he said.
Mr Evans said the significant interest in the Kyabram Greens project confirmed his initial thoughts that Kyabram was ready for an estate like this.
“Not just in terms of location and the bigger blocks, but in particular that it has access to the golf course, as well as some lots having views of the course.
“All of these have now been purchased,” he said.
Mr Evans has invested heavily into radio and television advertising and he said it was important to him to continue to invest in and around the Kyabram community.
“We’ve sponsored Kyabram Football Netball Club, as well as Merrigum Football Netball Club and our advertising campaign has funnelled back a significant amount of interest in the town.
“We are really happy with that,” he said.
The face of the campaign has been Australia Day “Lambassador“, and former North Melbourne VFL star Sam Kekovich.
Mr Evans said he would continue to use the much-loved personality and character in promoting the estate.
Vic Properties director Massimo Cellante said he was very excited that the Kyabram Sunrise development was finally progressing.
“We appointed Winslow Constructions a couple months ago and they are very eager to enter the site and start works. We are just waiting on a final sign-off from council on some design items, which is imminent,” he said.
Stage two at Sunrise Estate comprises 39 lots and more than 75 per cent of those were pre-sold before the significant hold-up.
Due to the delays in finalising the permit through council several owners pulled out of the estate.
“We still have more than 60 per cent sold and remain confident that Sunrise Estate will be the premier estate in Kyabram. We still have over 500 lots to develop over the next 10 years,” Mr Cellante said.
The anticipated completion date of works for stage two is May 21, 2024. Planning for stage three will commence in the second quarter of next year and pre-sales of that stage will commence once all permits are granted.
“We want to avoid any undue delays which have the potential to frustrate buyers. Across the state we have kept ourselves busy with subdivisions in Nicholson, on the banks of the majestic Nicholson River, and Korumburra, where we have completed the final stage of our 300-plus-lot development,” Mr Cellante said.
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor