Arklife Doubles Down with Brisbane Co-Living Play

Arklife is extending its push into Australia’s fast-evolving living sector with plans for its debut co-living development in Brisbane’s inner-city. The platform co-owned by builder-developer ADCO has until now been focused on leading the Queensland charge of the country’s rising build-to-rent asset class. But a development application filed with the Brisbane City Council this week has revealed its latest plans to transform a Fortitude Valley site into its first co-living play. The dual tower project dubbed Little Constance would rise up to 15 storeys and comprise 312 self-contained one-bedroom suites designed as a flexible accommodation model to operate as both rooming accommodation and short-term accommodation. In a move reflecting the site’s inner-city location, no carparking is proposed. Instead, it would provide just 30 ground-floor bicycle parking spaces, banking on its walkable proximity to major transport—including the nearby Fortitude Valley train station, as well as surrounding retail, hospitality and employment hubs. Little Constance is earmarked for a 1551sq m site at 24-26 Constance Street, next door to Arklife’s planned 31-storey, 327-apartment build-to-rent scheme at 50 Constance Street. “We’ve never hidden from the fact that, while build-to-rent forms the basis of what we do, we’ve always had an eye to other sub-sectors of the living sector,” Arklife director Scott Ponton told The Urban Developer . He said the co-living scheme—designed by Rothelowman—had been conceived as an “urban clubhouse designed for people that want flexible living arrangements”. Pitched at residents seeking shorter or more variable tenures than a conventional rental, it would provide a range of fully-furnished studio apartments—each with a private living area, kitchenette and bathroom—at all-inclusive rents. “We’ll have studio apartments ranging from 24sq m up to 40sq m at rents that fit in-between mum and dad’s place and a built-to-rent place,” Ponton said. ▲ A rendering of Arklife’s dual tower Little Constance co-living scheme proposed for Fortitude Valley. In line with Arklife’s focus on lifestyle-driven rental products, Little Constance would mirror the high-level amenity offering of its build-to-rent developments, he said. According to a planning report prepared by Urbis, the proposed development would include about 900sq m of communal open space—half of which would be integrated into recreational rooftops with a pool. Central to the design is a publicly accessible and activated ground-level laneway connecting the two tower lobbies and linking Constance Street through the site. It would incorporate facilities including a gym and yoga space, work-from-home office suite, communal kitchen and dining areas, and a concierge lounge with potential for small retail kiosks. The laneway is to be anchored by a landscaped “town square” planned as a social hub and “green heart” to the development. Overall, the residential component—122 units in one tower and 190 units in the other—would sit above a three-level podium, each floor accommodating between 8 and 17 co-living suites. Architecturally, the proposed scheme adopts a contemporary interpretation of the Valley’s historic character. ▲ A rendering of Arklife’s debut co-living development designed by Rothelowman. “The towers draw inspiration from nearby Art Deco and heritage buildings through vertical proportions, articulated facades and masonry-inspired detailing,” the documents said. Ponton said Little Constance—while targeting a younger demographic—would also satisfy short-stay and downsizing users. Hence, he said, the omission of carparking spaces. “The sort of resident that comes to us in the studios, they don’t need cars …and we’re seeing more and more of that,” he said. “It’s a great location, great views, great orientation—the precinct’s awesome. People want to live there, close to where they go out.” And although Sydney has led the national wave of co-living developments, Ponton said there was also strong growth potential for the living sub-sector in Brisbane. “Given the fundamentals that we see and the projects that we operate, we’ve got great conviction in studio apartment living,” he said. “While the dwelling sizes are smaller, the amenities are no different and the rents are lower.” Subject to approval, construction of Little Constance is slated to start “around August”.

Arklife Doubles Down with Brisbane Co-Living Play

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