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Half-a-million more passengers passed through Brisbane Airport in 2016-17 than in the previous financial year, with almost all that growth occurring at the international terminal.

The new figures came as Gold Coast Airport predicted an almost 160 per cent increase in passenger numbers over the next 20 years.

International passenger movements drove Brisbane Airport’s growth between 2015-16 and 2016-17.

In the year to July, Brisbane Airport recorded 22.87 million passenger movements, 17.24 million of whom were domestic and 5.63 million international.

That was up about 1.8 per cent from 22.47 million passengers in 2015-16 (5.27 million international and 17.2 domestic).

Gold Coast Airport is expecting a 160 per cent increase in passenger movements over the next 20 years. Photo: Cameron Spencer

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the rise of international tourism added millions to the state’s economy.

“The figures are certainly encouraging,” he said.

“We know that Brisbane is still the major gateway into the state and if Brisbane Airport does well, the state does well.”

As for the apparent plateau in the domestic market, Mr Gschwind said the introduction of more routes between interstate markets and regional airports, such as the Sunshine Coast, Mackay and Toowoomba, may have resulted in fewer people transiting through Brisbane.

Brisbane Airport’s parallel runway is expected to be operational by 2020. Photo: Brisbane Airport

“It may be that the leisure market is going straight to the place they want to be,” he said.

Gold Coast Airport will service 16.6 million passengers a year, or about three-quarters of Brisbane Airport’s current turnover, by 2037, according to the border airport’s newly approved master plan.

Of those passengers, 3.1 million were expected to be arriving from, or departing to, international destinations.

Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester signed off on the Gold Coast Airport masterplan this week, in what airport chief operating officer Marion Charlton said was an “important stepping stone” in the airport’s growth.

“The masterplan provides a guide to the development of airport facilities, infrastructure and land uses to meet the future requirements of the aviation industry and the communities we serve for the next 20 years,” she said.

“It is particularly focused on growth in new aviation infrastructure and commercial facilities over the next five years, including the continued expansion of the terminal and additional aircraft parking stands.”

Ms Charlton said the masterplan had taken into account the future introduction of both heavy and light rail public transport links.

“Whilst this is a medium to long term prospect, planning has occurred to ensure that future stations are highly accessible within the terminal precinct,” she said.

“The masterplan also has provision for a high-quality hotel development.

“In line with our previous masterplans, we will continue to commit to preserving approximately 25 per cent of the airport lease area for conservation purposes through the Cobaki environment precinct.”

With the completion of its parallel runway in 2020, Brisbane Airport has forecast 48.7 million passenger movements by 2033-34.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

The Brisbane hotel market’s recent and new supply pipeline has been well documented, however general positivity is increasing as longer-term improving demand fundamentals are becoming more evident.

Tom Gibson, Vice President of Investment Sales for JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group said, “While supply fluctuations are always an important consideration, it is also a barometer for the longer-term ambitions of a dynamic capital city. It must be recognised that these developments will dramatically change Brisbane’s hotel offering with a range of world-class and in several cases overdue assets.”

“Furthermore, Brisbane’s incredible $18 billion worth of infrastructure investments over the coming years will see the city’s character change considerably, and as a result, Brisbane’s corporate and leisure tourism markets are expected to benefit greatly,” added Gibson.

‧North Shore Hamilton – $5 billion
‧Queens Wharf Integrated Resort Casino Project – $3 billion
‧Metro Transport System – $1.5 billion
‧Brisbane Airport Second Runway – $1.3 billion
‧Brisbane Quarter – $800 million
‧Howard Smith Wharves – $110 million

The above encompass some of the largest current infrastructure and private development projects in the Southern Hemisphere and will cater for the traditional commercial markets, of which Brisbane’s hotel sector has had a long-running and symbiotic relationship with.

“These projects will not only service the new hotel supply coming to the market, they will drive Brisbane’s reputation and position as a logistics hub, attracting more corporate demand and subsequently promoting commercial relocations. It will also allow Brisbane to grow its entertainment offerings and calendar of events, and the recent success of the Adele Concert, World Science Festival and Horn vs Pacquiao boxing match shows just how beneficial these can be to hotel trading performances,” added Gibson.

Reflecting the strength of Brisbane’s hotel market and long-term outlook, investment in the Queensland capital is becoming an increasingly key focus for international buyers, such as the sale of The New Inchcolm Hotel & Suites to Ovolo Hotels from Hong Kong by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group in May.

“The magnitude of interest we are currently receiving from very credible international and domestic investors is testament to the city’s long-term investment fundamentals. Well located quality hotel assets in and around the Brisbane CBD are being increasingly sought after,” said Gibson.

Gibson added, “Australia has seen a significant proportion of global investment in recent years, and we are currently witnessing investor frustration with limited assets available in the market. We expected deal flow to remain constrained and, as a result, well placed assets which are presented to the market will receive strong investor interest.”

Australia’s key markets have had an excellent start to 2017 with H1 hotel transaction volume reaching AUD 700 million against a backdrop of AUD 3.77 billion across Asia Pacific, where Hong Kong and Singapore have also been standouts for inbound investment.

Source: The Real Estate Conversation

The renovated London flat Winston Churchill once called home has hit the market for an eye-watering £2,250 ($AUD3,678) a week.

The stunning four-bedroom flat, which Churchill used as his London residence between 1930-1939, is located in Morpeth Terrace and looks out to Westminster Cathedral.

The stunning four-bedroom flat, which Churchill used as his London residence between 1930-1939, is located in Morpeth Terrace and looks out to Westminster Cathedral. It’s just a 15-minute walk to the Palace of Westminster where parliament sits.

Data from the London Assembly shows that the median monthly rental price in Westminster is £2,383 a month, with higher-end monthly four-bedroom London rentals priced at around £3,650 a month.

But not every luxury four-bedroom flat has a roof terrace and they don’t all offer views of Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Cathedral.

Located on the fifth floor of a red brick terrace, the apartment includes a master bedroom with an ensuite, two other bathrooms, three other bedrooms, several reception rooms, kitchen, dining room, study and a roof terrace. The high-spec apartment has plenty of living space and is “perfect for entertaining on a large scale”, according to the listing.

The 257sqm apartment was purchased by Churchill from Lloyd George and he lived in the property during the years leading up to WWII.

Churchill isn’t the only famous former resident, Joseph Stalin’s youngest child and only daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva is said to have briefly called it home, and Mother Teresa is thought to have dined at the apartment in the 1970s.

The home was purchased by American Bill Roedy when he worked as vice chairman of MTV over a decade ago. He and his wife have spent quite a bit in restoring and renovating the home including adding a fireplace and panels in the study, according to The Telegraph. The couple now rent the flat out as it’s too small to accommodate their family as they have four children.

Source：realestate.com.au

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has found time between talks with foreign dignitaries and a trip to Europe for the G20 summit to put his Texas beach home on the market.

Mr. Tillerson, 65, a former ExxonMobil CEO and now America’s top diplomat under President Donald Trump, put his four-bedroom villa in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, up for sale on July 3. The home, one of at least five properties that the Tillersons own in Texas, is listed for $3.975 million.

It spans nearly 6,000 square feet and has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Built in the Spanish-style in 1999, the house at the edge of Lake Lyndon B. Johnson along the Colorado River has a red-tile roof and sandy stucco exterior with large arched windows and double doors.

A peek inside via listing photos show the Tillersons furnished the home in an eclectic mix of Southwestern and East Asian-inspired themes. There’s a large rustic wood-and-tile wet bar and tribal-patterned rugs, as well as a number of large ornamental Chinese fans, intricately carved wood built-ins and Asian prints.

The home has hardwood floors and countertops made from granite, marble and limestone, according to the listing with Jennie Thibodeaux of RE/MAX. The listing agent declined to comment for this article. The home has two master bedrooms, and a sun-filled open living design on the first floor with a floating fireplace that separates two sitting rooms.

Property records show the lot has a 1,000-square-foot boathouse, an attached garage and large brick patio. The Tillersons bought the waterfront home in 2004 for an undisclosed amount, according to property records. The county appraises the home at around $3.3 million.

Their main Texas house is a large sprawl in Bartonville, on the outskirts of Dallas, and the couple keeps another million-dollar mansion in Fort Worth. As part of their move to Washington, D.C., the Tillersons snapped up a $5.5 million brick home in Kalorama—making their neighbors the Obama family as well as the president’s daughter and top adviser, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Last year, T&C revealed that the Obama family was moving into an 8,200-square-foot house they planned to rent in the exclusive Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. after they left the White House. (Their neighbors include Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.)

In between the former president’s around-the-world vacation this spring, the former first family has been living in the house owned by former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife, Giovanna Gray. Apparently it’s been a good fit, because today the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Obamas have decided to buy it for $8.1 million: “Given that president and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property,” Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis told the newspaper. (They will reportedly hold onto their Chicago home as well.)

Source：Mansion Global , Town & Country

The famed, polarizing Flintstone House in Hillsborough, located at 45 Berryessa Way, landed on the market in 2015 for a whopping $4.2 million. Since then, it saw several price chops. And in May, it found a buyer. Today the final sale price was announced. After asking $3.19 million, it closed for $2.8 million, according to Judy Meuschke of Alain Pinel Realtors.

Korie Edises, who bought the place in 1996 for $800,000 (the equivalent of $1.23 million today) ended up netting a hefty return. Now the big question remains—will the new owner keep the unique abode as-is?

Using innovative building materials, architect William Nicholson built the home in 1976. Its one-of-a-kind look—a series of rusty orange blobs relaxing in the hills over I-280 in Hillsborough—is an unofficial South Bay landmark.

Regarding the home’s special structure, Curbed SF noted in 2015, “The rounded forms are made by spraying a kind of concrete on metal frames molded over balloons.” Colloquially known as the Flintstone House, it’s also referred to as the Barbapapa House “after the circular, shape-shifting creatures featured in a children’s book from the 1970s.”

The home’s exterior (when it was built it was off-white, but it has been a rusty orange shade since 2007) has piqued the curiosity of many, but Meuschke promises the interior is just as unique. “It’s really a piece of art,” she says. “It has amorphous windows and an almost Southwestern style. The owner has a fantastic art and furniture collection.”

Source: Curbed SF