The five-bedroom house at 32 Cara Rd, Highton, is listed for sale with $750,000 price hopes.

A bidding quartet confirmed Highton’s riverside pocket remains hot property with an original two-level home selling $140,000 above price hopes.

The mid century cream brick house at 32 Cara Rd, Highton, was snapped up for $890,000 at Saturday’s auction after four bidders emerged to secure the property.

Jellis Craig Geelong agent Marcus Falconer said the 876sq m property attracted strong interest during the campaign, with plenty of potential buyers mulling the opportunity from north of the border.

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The property had been listed with $750,000 price hopes.

“There was great interest from Queensland and New South Wales,” Mr Falconer said.

“I think a few were looking from an investment perspective.”

Mr Falconer reported the full gamut of interested parties in the property, with people also looking to renovate or knockdown and rebuild.

Ultimately, the neighbourhood’s residential appeal won out.

Timber windows and floors offer plenty to work with in the house.

The updated kitchen and dining room.

“The buyers want to renovate it as a family home,” he said.

“The underbidder wanted to a knockdown rebuild, who would be land banking for the short term. Others wanted to occupy.”

As a renovation project, the house has plenty to work with, from decorative cornices offering an glimpse of Art Deco style.

The house has hardwood floorboards, sash windows, including large picture windows in the main living room looking through the trees and across the river valley.

There are five bedrooms and two bathrooms and an updated kitchen and dining room split across two levels.

But the position is the key element that had potential buyers drooling over this property, about 200m from Barwon River parkland at the end of the street.

The property is also near Highton Village shops and in the Belmont High School zone.

The post Riverside renovator sells $140k over price hopes in Highton appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Elizabeth Street Garden will remain undeveloped after New York City leaders backed down from a decade-long fight to build affordable senior housing on the city-owned lot.

Instead, city officials said on Monday that the housing slated for the garden will be built on a nearby private site. 

Mayor Eric Adams and other city leaders painted the move as a win-win: the 123 affordable apartments will be shuffled to a nearby block and the garden will not be disturbed. (The senior housing development plan, dubbed Haven Green, also included plans for green space.)

But the decision not to build on Elizabeth Street Garden comes as many elected officials—the City Council, the many candidates for mayor, and even Adams—are supporting new development to counter the skyrocketing rents forcing some New Yorkers out of the city. Just last year, Adams, the City Council, and the state poured hours (and billions) into City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a plan to build 80,000 new housing units over the next 15 years.

The sudden about-face on Monday raises the question of whether NYC’s elected officials have the political will to make good on City of Yes.

Read on for everything you need to know about the Elizabeth Street Garden decision, and what it means for NYC.

Caption

Elizabeth Street Garden sits between Prince and Spring streets.

Credit

iStock

The garden saga, in brief (ish)

In 2012, New York City set out to develop Elizabeth Street Garden as affordable housing, which it had leased to gallerist Allan Reiver since the 1990s for $4,000 a month. (Yes, rent for the 20,000-square-foot garden is cheaper than the median rent in Manhattan, at $4,571 per month.)

Reiver, who used the space to display sculptures and other artifacts, fought the development in court and opened the garden to the public in 2013, hoping to win the public’s sympathy. Before that year, the only way to access the garden was through his nearby gallery.

Proponents of the garden later formed a nonprofit—run by Reiver’s son—to fight the development, including in federal court. But the garden fell behind on its rent, owing the city around $100,000 as of late last year. 

The city served the garden with an eviction notice in March, and it’s yet unclear if it is paid up. (Garden representatives did not respond to a request for comment.)

In a last ditch effort to save the space, locals and celebrities—including Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith—turned out in droves to fight the development plan. Those efforts were finally successful on Monday, when First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro announced the decision to save the greenery and nix the development plan.

A green new deal?

In exchange for keeping the garden, Council Member Christopher Marte agreed to support two nearby rezonings: a private development at 156-166 Bowery, where the developer agreed to take the 123 affordable units originally planned for Elizabeth Street Garden, and a city-owned lot at 22 Suffolk Street that could hold around 200 affordable apartments. 

“The private lot on Bowery Street was going to be a market-rate or luxury development with no affordable housing units,” Marte said. The developer “agreed to take at least 123 units that were slated for Elizabeth Street Garden to be placed there. So we’re putting affordable housing in a site that otherwise wouldn’t have any.”

He also signed onto an existing plan to redevelop 100 Gold St., home to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which will add at least 300 affordable units.

Marte said the decision to save the garden wasn’t because of a “not-in-my-backyard” opposition to development, but a choice to have both new housing and green space.

“We have a site that’s nearby where we can build affordable housing and not pit these things against each other,” Marte said. “The community is saying, yes we’re open to development, let’s just make sure that we do it without the elimination of the few green spaces that we have.”

Caption

Council Member Chris Marte attends a rally for Community Land Trusts on June 3rd near City Hall.

Credit

Brick Underground/Celia Young

Housing delayed

But the move means that the senior New Yorkers who are hoping to get one of the affordable apartments may have to wait a bit longer.

Marte was optimistic that the Suffolk site could be rezoned quickly because it sits on public land, but the Bowery Street development would have to go through a full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)—a series of public hearings and reviews that could take nine to 10 months, he noted. The 100 Gold site is unlikely to come before the City Council before 2027, Marte said.

While the project at 22 Suffolk Street could move more quickly, the city will still have to secure financing for the project amid high interest rates, something that will make the development more challenging, said Iziah Thompson, senior policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York.

The move not to build on Elizabeth Street Garden—which already went through a ULURP process in 2019—drew criticism from housing advocates and former city officials. Notably, former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, who resigned from her post amid the mayor’s corruption and bribery scandal, critiqued the decision on X (Twitter).

“A heat wave is deadly for seniors without safe, affordable housing,” Torres-Springer posted on Monday, referencing the hot weather blanketing NYC. “They deserve more than a promise. Housing delayed is housing denied.” 

Will NYC say yes to housing?

To put it bluntly, the move undermines the city’s commitment to building affordable housing through City of Yes, Thompson said.

“A city that can’t build 120 low-income, senior units is not really a city saying yes to housing,” Thompson said.

The decision not to build on Elizabeth Street Garden also undermines the city’s trust with developers, said Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York City Housing Conference, a pro-affordable housing development nonprofit. Fee said she spoke with an affordable housing developer on Monday that questioned whether the city would follow through on its commitments in the future.

“How are we supposed to add a little bit more housing in every neighborhood when the wealthiest and loudest voices are allowed to undo years of planning to address an affordability crisis?” Fee asked.

Annemarie Gray, executive director of pro-development organization Open New York, questioned whether the city would follow through on its plans for housing on the Suffolk and Bowery sites.

“We just turned our back on a project that has been ready, but delayed in bad faith for many, many, many years,” Gray said. “I do not believe that the deal that the administration claimed that they cut is at all serious, and nothing about it is guaranteed to actually result in housing in any reasonable timeframe.” 

Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are set to invest a staggering $US1.4 billion ($A2.1 billion) into turning an abandoned Soviet weapons base into a luxury island resort.

Ivanka, 43, and Kushner, 44, have spent the past year working on plans to transform the Albanian island of Sazan — one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean — into a must-visit destination for the wealthy and privileged, Realtor reports.

The couple, who both served as senior advisers in US President Donald Trump’s first administration but opted not to rejoin his cabinet after his 2024 election win, took a massive step toward their dream of creating the “extraordinary” retreat in January, when their plans received preliminary approval from the Albanian government, according to the New York Times.

That approval came just two months after Ivanka’s father claimed victory over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and days before he was inaugurated for the second time.

The outlet noted that the project is “one of several” involving members of the president’s family and foreign government entities that Trump will be actively working with in the White House.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are pursuing new careers as luxury hotel developers after choosing not to take roles in President Donald Trump’s second administration. Picture: Instagram/Ivanka Trump

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Both Kushner and a spokesman for the Albanian government had previously shut down any suggestion the project’s evaluation process would be influenced by its direct connection to Trump — however, that hasn’t stopped questions from being raised over the approval.

“The fact that such a renowned American entrepreneur shows his interest on investing in Albania makes us very proud and happy,” a representative of Albanian President Edi Rama told the Times in 2024.

Even before the couple had received approval for their plans, locals were abuzz with speculation about the project, with many now referring to the island as “Ishulli i Trumpëve,” which translates to “Trump Island.”

Both Ivanka and Kushner have close ties to the real estate industry via their respective families.

Before President Trump launched himself into politics, he was best known for his career as a developer, while Kushner’s family owns a vast portfolio of commercial, residential, and retail properties in and around New York.

However, this project marks the first time the couple will venture into the heady world of luxury hotels — with multiple reports noting they face a steep uphill battle before the resort will be ready for visitors.

The couple are investing a staggering $US1.4 billion in a luxury tourist destination that will be built on the Albanian island of Sazan. Picture: Getty Images

Having conquered the first hurdle — receiving approval from the government to forge ahead with their plans — the duo will now have to tackle the remnants of the island’s somewhat dark past as a Soviet-era storage facility for chemical weapons.

According to Italian journalist Marzio Mian, who visited the island in July 2024, shortly after Ivanka and Kushner’s plans for the 1400-acre land were revealed, it is littered with “signs depicting skull and crossbones, warning of landmines,” with visitors to the area warned not to venture too far off specific paths out of fears that they could stumble across an unexploded ordnance.

Plans to remove the remaining weapons and ammunition on the island are well underway, however, with the Albanian government announcing in July 2020 that members of the country’s armed forces had been dispatched to Sazan in order to begin clearing it of any dangerous ordnance.

After Ivanka and Kushner’s plans for their resort received preliminary approval, the Albanian government confirmed it would work with them in order to continue clearing their development site of all unexploded and buried weapons.

The island is littered with abandoned buildings — as well as many unexploded ordnances that are being cleared. Picture: Getty Images

As for the crumbling military buildings and 3600 derelict bunkers that were abandoned on the island, the couple is reportedly planning to incorporate at least a few of them into their hotel plans.

Ivanka revealed in a 2024 podcast interview they were working with the “best architects and the best brands” to make the resort into an “extraordinary” property.

Despite the remnants of the island’s dark past as a Communist military base, tourists began flocking to its dazzling beaches as early as 2017, when it was reopened to the public after being closed for years.

According to Lonely Planet, the island is easily accessible by regular ferries from Vlore, one of Albania’s most popular — and luxurious — tourist destinations, a reputation that Ivanka and Kushner will undoubtedly be keen to transfer to their own high-end hotel.

“Once used as a submarine and chemical-weapons base by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it’s now home to an Albanian-Italian military base used to combat narcotics smuggling,” Lonely Planet states.

“In the summer of 2017, a small area of the island opened to visitors, making parts of its pristine coastline and historic relics accessible for the first time.”

Small parts of the island were opened up to tourists in 2017, with regular ferries travelling from the local tourist hotspot of Vlore throughout the day. Picture: Getty Images

President Rama made no secret of his excitement about the Trump-Kushner development.

He told The Guardian he believes Albania “can’t afford not to exploit a gift like Sazan” and added: “We need luxury tourism like a desert needs water”.

To that end, the government is even in the process of building an airport near Vlore to ferry wealthy tourists directly to the country’s most affluent and desirable area — an airport that would also serve as an easy access point for Ivanka and Kushner’s hotel.

However, not everyone is thrilled about the project, with some critics accusing the Albanian government of a lack of transparency about the deal with the couple, according to the Times.

One, Agron Shehaj, who is a member of the opposition party in the Albanian government, told the outlet: “Of course for Albania, which is a poor country, it is important to develop tourism.

“But there has been a lack of transparency here, and it makes it look like this is a private deal that is in the political interest of the prime minister of Albania.”

Sazan is easily accessible from Vlore, which is one of the most luxurious resort towns in Albania. Picture: Google Maps

Others raised concerns about the impact the development will have on the island’s thriving wildlife.

Freelance tour guide Arben Kola, who told The Independent: “The way tourism works for Sazan at the moment is it helps to preserve nature, not damage it. We shouldn’t change that”.

Though Kushner has not commented on the recent reports about his proposed tourism mecca, he told The Guardian in 2024 that their plans would carefully consider Sazan’s natural environment — stating: “When people announce a development, everyone gets scared.

“Everybody assumes the worst. But once they see the plans we have, the way we’re designing it, the way we’re being faithful and considerate of the environment around us, I think that people will be very, very pleased.

“And again, with developments, you never make everyone happy.”

It is unclear when work on the resort will begin — with documents pertaining to the preliminary government approval noting officials had the right to revoke the decision pending further negotiations.

Parts of this story first appeared in Realtor and was republished with permission.

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The three-bedroom house at 180 Aberdeen St, Geelong West, sold at auction.

A mid-campaign adjustment to the price expectations of a Geelong West house saw three bidders re-engage with the property at the auction.

The three-bedroom weatherboard residence at 180 Aberdeen St sold for $658,000 at Saturday’s auction after three groups contested the property.

Gartland Geelong agent Will Ainsworth said the eventual buyers revealed they hadn’t intended to compete for the 388sq m property near Shannon Ave, but found themselves holding the contract after auction.

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“We ended up selling to a couple from Melbourne who came down with little intention of bidding, so they were quite surprised when they ended up with the contract and champagne,” Mr Ainsworth said.

“They were interested in the property that they’d been through the week prior, but they came down with the intentions of not necessarily bidding but seeing how it went.

“They kind of got sucked in to the process and before you knew it they were competing with another buyer.”

Mr Ainsworth said each party was first-time buyers, though the purchasers final plans for the property aren’t known.

“I guess they bought it thinking it’s a good proposition and not matter what they use it for, it’s going to be good value and a good property for then over time,” Mr Ainsworth said.

The three-bedroom house features high ceilings and an original fireplace.

The kitchen was “ready for transformation”.

The house had substantial windows overlooking the front garden.

At $658,000, Mr Ainsworth said the property presented good at about $160,000 below Geelong West’s median house price.

“Immediately across the road is Newtown where the median price is $1.1m, so you’re buying under the median house price 50m away from a blue-chip Newtown of a $1.1m median house price,” he said.

Mr Ainsworth said the property was initially listed at a higher price guide

“We just weren’t getting a lot of connection with buyers, so we did actually drop it down a bit.

“Funnily enough the people that bid had all seen it prior with the higher price range but then re-engaged based on the drop.

“It’s a matter of dealing with the market you’re in and if the buyers’ aren’t engaging, then it’s usually the price expectations. If you lower it a bit, then they jump back in.”

The property was marketed as an opportunity in a blue-chip location for renovators, investors or to create a dream home.

The house offered high ceilings with decorative cornices and picture rails, along with an open fireplace in the front living room.

The separate kitchen was ready for a transformation, while the three bedrooms were fitted with built-in wardrobes.

The post First-time buyers’ surprise at landing Geelong West home appeared first on realestate.com.au.

No evidence of “horizontal agreement” among real estate brokerages to inflate commissions, but judge will hear arguments alleging a “vertical antitrust conspiracy” with NAR.