04 May, 2015
Ergo Wins National Property Award
An inner-city development, ‘Ergo,’ has won a coveted national award for ‘Best Affordable Housing’ project of the year.
The Property Council of Australia announced the winners in Sydney last night with ‘Ergo – Stage 1’ winning the inaugural award.
The award winning Sturt Street Housing project was developed by City of Adelaide and Hindmarsh Development Australia and features designs by Hames Sharley.
Lord Mayor, Martin Haese, said this award is a fantastic achievement for all involved.
“Ergo was designed to increase the number and diversity of people living in the city.
“We achieved this goal by marketing the apartments to those homebuyers who would otherwise be locked out of the inner-city property market such as low to moderate income households, which represent 60 per cent of households in South Australia and more than 75 percent of the city workforce.
“City of Adelaide secured Commonwealth Government support through the Housing Affordability Fund and then developed a Shared Equity Scheme managed by HomeStart which resulted in 52 apartments being sold below market value and under the State Government’s affordable housing threshold of $331,000.
“Council also made available 20 affordable rental properties, including one and two bedroom apartments, at 20 per cent below market rent value using the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
“The popularity of Ergo exceeded expectations with the majority of contracts in place within six months of the properties being released and all settling within weeks of construction being completed.
“This is the first time the Property Council of Australia has included the category of ‘Best Affordable Housing’ and we are immensely proud to have won this award,” Martin said.
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Catherine Kennedy