Good morning. My name's Greville Pabst. Today we're going to cover Prahran and Windsor.
I'm sitting out the front of Pala Cafe in the popular Greville Street shopping strip, really famous for its fashion and its cafes. It's located between Punt Road and Chapel Street.
Prahran and Windsor is located some 5 km south-east of the Melbourne CBD. Prahran and Windsor is often considered one suburb, but they share a great array of public transport and infrastructure, including train stations at Prahran and Windsor, and trams on Chapel Street, High Street and Malvern Road.
Windsor and Prahran is surrounded by some great inner city suburbs, bounded by Albert Park, South Yarra, St Kilda and Malvern.
Both suburbs share some fantastic amenities and shopping facilities, including Chapel Street, which is famous for its cafes and fashion boutiques; Greville Street for its cafes and alternate fashion; and of course Malvern Road and High Street.
Prahran and Windsor offers some fantastic public amenities, including the Alfred Hospital across Punt Road, Albert Park Lake, Prahran Market, the Jam Factory for movie goers, and of course a great array of shopping and transport.
Some of the best streets for buying investment property in this Greville Street precinct include Alfred Street, Donald Street and Perth Street. These streets comprise a mix of classic single-fronted Victorian era cottages and a mix of 1950s, '60s and '70s investment flats, all within walking distance of the Prahran railway station and of course the coffee, cafes and fashion strip in Greville Street.
I'm standing here in Donald Street, Prahran, which runs between Commercial Road and High Street and is traversed by Greville Street. These streets offer some great examples of the Victorian era cottages — the single-fronted to your double-fronted. There are also some block-fronted weatherboards, interspersed with some really low density one and two bedroom flats.
Now driving down one of Prahran's finest streets, Grandview Grove. You can just see the wide boulevard, the canopy of trees. Fantastic street, some beautiful houses. You can see to the right there the double-fronted Victorian. Some of the houses in this street are $4 to $5 million houses, but there's also a great array of investment quality one and two bedroom blocks of flats.
The thing about Grandview Grove is that it is in a heritage overlay, so you can no longer pull down those heritage properties and build new. There are height restrictions, which really underpins the land value. You can just feel — you can actually smell — the money in this street. It is a great street to buy. You're really close to Toorak Village and, as I said, the tram, High Street, Malvern Road. Everything is at your fingertips.
Standing in Grandview Grove, Prahran, and behind me is an example of the types of investment quality flats — 1960s, 1970s — that are really good opportunities to buy. The one bedroom here in that block behind me recently sold for $558,000.
We're now driving down Peel Street in Windsor, one of the better streets in Windsor. Quite a mix of housing style. There are a lot of single-fronted weatherboard Victorian cottages, some block-fronted weatherboards, some single-fronted Victorian era brick cottages, some double fronts, and there's a little mix of semi-detached, attached, and some low density flat development.
Peel Street runs between Punt Road and Chapel Street, and of course the Windsor railway station is right at the Chapel Street end. So once again, it's its position close to the railway station and all the amenities and shops that are located on Chapel Street that make it such an attractive investment location.
I'm standing here in Union Street in Windsor, and like all suburbs, Windsor and Prahran has compromises — such as the housing commission behind me. Some of the other compromises include the many narrow one-way streets in Prahran and Windsor, which make it very difficult for car parking. Also, avoid buying directly adjacent to train lines, for obvious reasons of noise and disturbance.
My investment tips for buying in Prahran and Windsor: always ensure that you have a car parking space on title when buying an investment flat. Always buy within close proximity, within walking distance, to some of the great shopping facilities such as Chapel Street, Malvern Road or Greville Street — but don't be too close to those streets, to disturb your enjoyment and to be disturbed by those factors.
Of course, not all property performs the same. When buying investment property, always seek independent advice from a qualified professional.
