I just came back from a 10-day work trip to Melbourne. One of the highlights of this trip must be the visit to the site of Alexander Lombard Tower (ALT) at Mount Alexander Road, Travancore. I deliberately took tram No.59 from Elizabeth Street and along the way, the tram went past Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, etc to reach the development at Mount Alexander road.

The tram stopped in front of the site earmarked for ALT. I snapped some pictures of the SiennaApartments which is stage 2 of Travancore On the Park and the apartments have been sold and are scheduled for settlement at August/Septemeber 2010.

If you haven’t been to the site, you would have NO clue how the layout of the apartments of ALT will be like. All marketing materials and brochures do not state indicate the orientation of the units. I have taken a shot of the model at its showroom below Travancore On the Park stage 1 to give you an indication of the facing of the units.

Having said that, there are some very good valued units (priced at below $8,000/sqm) and facing the park view. If you buy with the right price, your yield would be optimized.

Personally, I feel that this development offers great value to investors. Many developments off-the-plan within 5km of the CBD are asking for sky-high prices (very often $10,000/sqm) but ALT is right up there in terms of location, quality and also value for money.

This development would suit investors who are looking for a second investment property with a 24-month settlement period. With multi-award winning Fender Katsalidis Architects, you can be sure your return on your investment is maximized. The development features mainly 2-bedroom units and it appeals to professionals working in the city and also the airport. There’s a growing number of people working in the airport who wants to live close to the city. Hence ALT is the natural choice. The other upside is there are not many developments coming up in this area (Travancore) hence supply is definitely limited.

If you want a piece of inner city apartment without paying through your nose, ALT is the one. Of course, you need to know what your objectives of investing are and it’s best to find out your borrowing capacity before taking the plunge. For more information, please email me for a no-obligation discussion.