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27 January 2022
Source: Perth Now
New residents of the multimillion-dollar apartment complex within the Karrinyup shopping centre precinct won’t have to travel far from their current home.
More than 85 per cent of apartments at Blackburne’s East Village have been sold, with sales data showing that 90 per cent of buyers are from the northern suburbs and 75 per cent live within a 10km radius.
Buyers range from regional Walpole to the coastal suburbs, with the most from one suburb being nine from Karrinyup.
The $22.5 million development off Karrinyup Road will include 94 apartments on the eastern edge of Karrinyup Shopping Centre.
Part of the centre’s $800m redevelopment, the seven-storey apartment block is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Gwelup couple Neil and Margaret Ford will be moving into one of the soon-to-be-completed apartments in the East Village complex.
Mr Ford said they had been living in the neighbouring suburb for about 17 years and it was time to downsize.
“We’re living on one side of the lake and moving to the other side of the Gwelup lake,” he said.
“We’ve seen the area grow there but certainly this development of the complex is something that I think is quite astounding for the northern suburbs.
“For us it’s time to move on from a house, we’ve had the apartment experience previously, and this ticks all the boxes in terms of the location and its quality.”
Mr Ford said he and his wife bought the 3×2 apartment on the third floor for more than $900,000 in February last year.
“The area is amazing in terms of its location, geographically located to be able to travel on freeways north, south and east, it doesn’t take you long to get anywhere,” he said.
“This time in life, moving from a house into an apartment certainly suits us to still be located within that region with all our connections but to be located in a quality apartment is something that is important to us.
“We like dining out, we like that aspect of being able to walk down to cafes and restaurants… we don’t have to drive to shopping centres to get what we need.
“We just feel like we want to be a part of that. It’s right there with everything on our doorstep.”
West Perth-based Jessica Amanda salon hairdresser and current Subiaco renter Jessica Woolley purchased a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor for just under $500,000.
“For me, it’s close enough to the city but still close enough to the coast,” she said.
“I could ride my bike down to the coast from there, it’s not far.
“I guess mainly the new shopping centre was the huge incentive to go there, just the easiness of popping down to the shops when I need to and everything is on my doorstep.”
“I guess it’s just a bit more of a balance between city and coast.”
Blackburne’s East Village has also attracted some international buyers, including from Malaysia and Dubai, and an interstate buyer from Noosaville.