Over the 15 years from 2006 to 2021, Ipswich’s population is set to grow from 142,500 to 286,400 (OESR projections). Hence the developers of Ipswich’s first high-rise apartment tower probably thought they were on a winner, but that turned out not to be so, as reported in the Queensland Times today:

A LOW point for Ipswich’s first high-rise residential tower augurs well for bargain hunters at an apartment fire sale.

More than 40 residential apartments and three commercial units at Aspire Apartments will go on sale next month.

With 104 single-level units and four dual-level penthouse apartments in a 15-storey building, Aspire became the first high-rise development in the Ipswich region when it was built in 2008.

Ray White Commercial Ipswich CBD’s Trent Quinn and Warren Ramsey are marketing the remaining development stock at Aspire Apartments on behalf of receivers and managers Jamie Harris and John Cronin, of McGrathNicol.

Mr Harris said the developer of Aspire, Dore Property Corporation, was forced into receivership after only selling about half the units.

Aspire was meant to usher in a new era of inner-city living for Ipswich but it opened as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit.

Obviously the GFC would have had an impact, but I see a larger failure to understand the nature of Ipswich’s growth. Ipswich isn’t attracting more people because they want to live close to the Ipswich CBD. Instead, Ipswich is attracting more people because they want to live close to the Brisbane CBD. That explains the strong growth in Ipswich’s eastern suburbs, particularly in the Springfield area, which outside of peak hour is within half an hour’s drive of Brisbane CBD. Apartment towers make sense in inner city Brisbane, but they won’t make sense in Ipswich for another couple of decades at least.