Angle Carves Out Niche in Melbourne’s Downsizer Market

High-end residential developer Angle has won approval for its 20-residence Fernhurst project at Studley Park in Melbourne’s well-heeled Kew. 

The developer has cemented its reputation in the area with its Fenwick project down the road, which director Lachlan Gibson said had achieved overwhelming success. 

Angle has partnered again with Edition Office to design the residences aimed at the owner-occuper downsizer market in one of Melbourne’s most tightly held areas. 

“We’re very selective about where we locate our projects. We like areas where there is going to be limited future supply due to factors such as restrictive zoning and heritage overlays,” Gibson said. 

“Fenwick is our most recognised project to date, and we’ve already reserved a few homes in Fernhurst off the plan to people who missed out there.

“We’ve got a decent record of selling for rates above market. As an example, we achieved over $20,000 per square metre on our Fenwick project down the road back in 2018.”

▲ Angle has won approval for its Fernhurst development at Kew, east of Melbourne’s CBD.

Gibson said the developer “started in Melbourne 10 years ago and our focus is very much on this city”. But it’s the eastern suburbs that are really in Angle’s sights. 

Gibson says Kew is a “sticky suburb” because people tended to stay in the locale. 
 
“It’s having a bit of a moment,” he says.
 
“There are some great projects either recently completed or coming out of the ground in Studley Park, from well-credentialled studios including Cera Stribley, Edition Office and Woods Bagot.

“We have a strong following in Boroondara; in particular within the suburbs of Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew.

“There’s very little development land in those suburbs and it can be difficult to get permits, so there is definitely a scarcity factor.”

Fernhurst is priced from $2 million to $7 million and Gibson said they were focused on leaving a legacy in the area. 

“Historically, Boroondara hasn’t had the same level of development that you see in comparable municipalities, so we do feel a responsibility to go above and beyond to deliver architectural projects that respond well to the area and resonate with locals,” Gibson said.

Angle often works with site owners, including not-for-profits, in a joint-venture collaboration to deliver the project, similar to a development agreement.

Gibson said operating under a development-agreement model derisked projects and reduced operating costs during planning phase.

“We didn’t buy a site for two years and then we bought two sites in a fortnight. I think unfortunately you can’t go out and find sites when you want to,” Gibson said. 

“We’ve got really great capital partners and if we’ve got an opportunity then we can usually pursue it. 

“We’re very lean and very hands on. We specialise in high-end residential, which is a space that a lot of developers are playing in but we feel that there aren’t many executing it well.”

The 20 residences will comprise a mixture of typologies, including 17 apartments and three homes across the 0.4ha block at the corner of Stawell Street and Fernhurst Grove.

The private enclave will have an end value of $80 million.