EPISODE 28 SUBURB SPOTLIGHT – PADDINGTON

Marcus: Hi, and welcome to Property Insider, the podcast that talks about all things property in the . Michelle and I are pleased to present our next in a line of suburb spotlights, focusing on Paddington this week. Michelle, how are you going this week?

Michelle: Good, how are you?

Marcus: Very, very well. So, Paddington, we were just talking earlier, it's amazing how much is actually there that, you know, I guess you take for granted until you start digging into a bit more. But, you know, what have you found in terms of the history that you started with?

Michelle: Oh, there's so much there, and Paddington's probably best known today for its streets of beautifully restored terraced houses with their, you know, distinctive cast iron balcony railings sloping down in waves from Oxford Street, you know, to the Harbor Shores below.

But the area was originally inhabited Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and the development of the suburb was largely due to changes to transport availability along the ridge. Originally there was the Maroo, which is a path used by the local aboriginal people, and a road of some form was built by Governor Hunter along this track to the South Head as early as 1803. That's quite a while ago.

So, the first land grant in the Paddington area, of 100 acres, which is 40.4 hectares, was made to three gentlemen, Robert Cooper, James Underwood, and Francis Forbes, and it was first promised by Governor Brisbane in 1823. The suburb's name came about when James Underwood subdivided 50 of his 97 acres, and he called his subdivision the Paddington Estate after the London Borough of that name. It covered the land from Oxford Street down to present day Paddington Street. Now, early developments in the area followed soon after the commencement in 1841 with the construction of the Victoria Barracks, built to accommodate members of the Corps formally housed in the town of Sydney.

Now, the Village of Paddington soon emerged, and much of it around the cottages of the many artisans, like stonemasons, quarrymen, carpenters and laborers who were working on the construction of the barracks, along with the dwellings of the small community that grew up to supply goods and services to the military establishment.

So, what emerged in that suburb was a really clear class distinction. You had the working class population, and then there was a small group of gentlemen, you

know, professional men and merchants, many of whom built their imposing villas on the slopes leading down to the harbor.

So, the height of ridge made an ideal location for a reservoir holding water for the surrounding, lower down suburbs, and working on the Paddington Reservoir was completed in 1866. It operated until 1899, so not that long, and it was sold to the Paddington Municipal Council, and part of it was used as a service station until the roof collapsed in 1990. Following major renovation and landscaping, it was reopened as Paddington Reservoir Gardens, and is not a major tourist attraction.

Marcus: That's certainly a lovely place to go visit if you've got a Sunday afternoon-

Michelle: Beautiful.

Marcus: ... or a Saturday afternoon and it's sunny out, take a walk through the Reservoir Gardens. It's certainly a lovely spot to go visit since its renovation, or since its opening a few years back.

Michelle: So, the Victorian suburb of Paddington grew into its present form largely due to a 30-year boom that began in sort of the mid 1870s, particularly with developments in public transport. Initially with horse drawn buses, which travelled to the city and back from a terminus at Glenmore Road, and then with the introduction of steam trams going through to Bondi in 1884.

All of this facilitated the growth of the local high street, along the Old South Head Road, and with the section between Boundary Street and Jersey Road being renamed as Oxford Street by the council in 1885. So, there you go, Oxford Street started in 1885, both to reflect its upgraded status, and to bring it into line with the already renamed lower section from Hyde Park.

The boom saw both the building of the Paddington Town Hall and the breakup of many of the early 19th century gentlemen estates that had previously occupied the valley along Rushcutters Bay. So, much of the building activity in the late 19th century, in Paddington, was the work of so-called 'spec' builders, so they work ... the way they work is they finance the construction of each new house that they do from the sale of the last. And the terrace form of development typically found in Paddington Suited this, you know, modus operandi whilst also allowing economies of land use and building materials.

So, the resulting housing was nearly always tenanted and occupied, with landlords all often holding onto their investments for decades. I think there's quite a few that still do that now.

After World War II, at a time when the Anglo-Celtic Australian dream was for the quarter-acre block in the suburbs, and while Paddington still remained home to many working class families who lived there for generations, it also

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became home to migrant workers and their families, who had no problems living in close proximity to their neighbours. These residents were joined, from the early '60s, 1960s, that is, by hippies and students attracted by the cheap rents.

Marcus: Which no long exist.

Michelle: No. There's no such thing as cheap rent.

Marcus: And what's interesting is having moved from that working class background that was present after World War II that you've mentioned, Michelle, you know, per the 2016 census, it's gone completely the other way. So, it's gone from a very working class blue collar type area to almost exclusively white collar. So, per 2016, you know, jobs in white collar, either admin, managerial, professional type services, now make up 80% of the employment in the area.

Michelle: Yeah.

Marcus: So, it's been a complete shift on its head from blue collar over to white collar.

Paddington itself has just over 12,000 people from 2016, which is just double over what we spoke about a few weeks back with Naremburn, and married couples were about 35% of the population, which is a much lower proportion than it would be across New Sales Wales at about 48%. So, outside of that, the never married constitutes about 52% of the locals in Paddington.

Two other really interesting tidbits that I found were that people in the legal industry are over three and a half times more likely to live in Paddington than the rest of New South Wales.

Michelle: Really?

Marcus: So, if you do want to get hit by a car for that sweet, sweet insurance money, someone's going to be there, right? Represent you, and throwing business cards at you, so-

Michelle: That's interesting. Interesting indeed.

Marcus: And, you know, speaking about housing, getting back onto property and the housing themselves, townhouses and terrace houses are about 64% of the residences in the area of Paddington, which you can certainly appreciate when you walk through it and take a walk on the city streets.

Michelle: Yeah, there's only 2.8% is separate house, so, a freestanding home. So, if you're in the market for a freestanding home, it's like hens teeth in Paddington.

Marcus: Get ready to pay.

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Michelle: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Marcus: Hopefully you were born very, very wealthy.

Michelle: Well, that's it, yes, or had that golden ticket. And when we're looking at houses in the numbers, let's talk dollars. Paddington hasn't seen any negative growth since 2012, which is the same for units also. Today's median price stands at $2.59 million dollars, and interestingly, this year only 52 ... In 2018, 52 houses have sold, and if you look at last year, when 222 houses sold, 2017, there's still quite a few to beat-

Marcus: It's a whole less stock.

Michelle: Yeah.

Marcus: Whole less amount of stock that's on the market.

Michelle: And, you know, that tends to drive up price, where there's no supply and still demand. Now, with units, prices still going up, as I said. Again, also much lack of stock there, only 23 units in 2018, and the median price there is a million and 50.

So, when you're looking at price segmentation, where were the most properties sold, in which price bracket? In the last 12 months houses was two to two and a half million and up. There were a few cheaper ones, but most of them are in the two to two and a half million mark.

With apartments, interestingly, so, there's two peaks there, seven to 800,000, and one and a half to two million. So, I would suggest, from those numbers, you could see the seven to 800 is obviously the one-bedders, one and a half to two, two bedders or the really swanky one-bedders.

Marcus: Absolutely, yes. It's terrifying to think of a two million dollar one bedroom.

Michelle: Yeah, oh, gosh, but, you know, nice if you have it. In terms of home ownership, 45.5% rent in the suburb, and the rest is either mortgaged or fully owned. And when we're looking at methods of travel to work, 26.3% drive themselves, 18.6 walks, only, and obviously that's because its beauty, you know, the proximity to the city, and Bondi Junction, all those places that are in proximity that, if you're a healthy person, you can just walk there.

Marcus: That's right, and certainly on that, in terms of the walkability, I'm looking at walk score, which we've mentioned a few times on the podcast to date. Paddington actually measures as a 93, and it's one of the most walkable suburbs in Sydney, and it certainly makes sense, because you can do most daily errands without the use of a car. It's fairly flat, there's lots of diversity in things that you can do and see, and things that you can get in and around your immediate area.

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So, that certainly makes sense, and going back to your last point, walking into the city is 25 minutes, but largely flat and, you know, well paved, good foot paths and so forth. So, you know, you're close enough that if you do want to walk to work, it is a good suburb for you to look at doing that.

Michelle: Now, interestingly, I found in this pie chart that 6.5% admitted to not working at all.

Marcus: That's the dream.

Michelle: And 3.2% were car passengers, so they get ... they undertake a taxi, or they possibly have a driver.

Marcus: Again, that's the dream as well.

Michelle: I would like to be in that category, to be honest. That sounds great.

Marcus: Yes, yes, we haven't done well enough in life, Michelle.

Michelle: We need to keep going with these podcasts, I reckon.

Marcus: Yeah.

Michelle: Yeah, so again, it's an affluent suburb. It's a beautiful suburb to live in. Yeah, that's the main points there in Paddington from my side, what else did you uncover?

Marcus: Yeah, so, just going back to transport for those of us that aren't lucky enough to have a driver at our beck and call, trains are a bit trickier in Paddington, because you do need to get all the way to Edgecliff, and Edgecliff station is on the Eastern Line, it will go over to Bondi, it will take you back into the city. But Edgecliff Station itself is only a 20-minute walk, however, if you've ever done the City2Surf, you may remember Edgecliff station as one of those ones that you barely pass as you're struggling up one of those long hills. So, it's ... Paddington itself is quite nice, and not super hilly all the way through, but Edgecliff itself is at the top of a hill.

Michelle: Hence the name.

Marcus: Buses are a lot better and more convenient. There are buses that come every couple of minutes down Oxford Street, and they will take you both out to Bondi as well as into the city. And, in fact, the M40 will take you all the way up to Chatswood if that's what you're after. An average trip to the city from Oxford Street, depending on where it is, is roughly about nine to 10 minutes, and again, with buses every few minutes you certainly won't be waiting too long in the morning or in the evening after work.

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Alternatively, as we mention, if you're closer to Oxford Street, or if you're closer to the Hyde Park area, you can walk into the city across Hyde Park. It's a lovely walk. I've done it myself a number of times, and it's really only a flat, leisurely 25 minute walk. So, you know, a lovely suburb if location is really key for you, and if you're ... you know, if you enjoy walking it's a lovely suburb to be in and around.

Shopping for groceries you've got Woolworths, which is located on Glenmore Road, and then you do have a Coles, which is further away, and that's located at Edgecliff station again. Alternatively, there is an IGA Express, which is on Oxford Street, so you do have plenty of options, plus, of course, convenience stores and 7-Elevens, everything else, around the ... I guess the more car-bound streets such as Oxford Street.

Cafes, restaurants, shopping, you know, Paddington does seem to have a bit of everything. So, Cafes you've got ... You have ... Take your pick of loads in the area. You've got Berkelouw 1812, which is on Oxford Street. There is a Sonoma on Glenmore Road that always seems busy, and then Jackie’s Café is for the beautiful people, and hence, I haven't myself gone, but the Instagram crowd from what I've seen, certainly gathers there, so ...

Michelle: Yeah, there's lots of coffee shops around, you take a pick and there's one, you know, and there's many, many choices. And, of course, you've also got the massive hub that is Bondi Junction in Westfield, you know, just a short car drive away, or on the bus.

Marcus: Or with your driver, again.

Michelle: Or with ... Yeah, exactly. Or you could try a bike, but I don't know how safe that would be on the main Oxford Street, but yeah, there's lots of choices.

Marcus: And then, from there, if you want something a bit stronger, loads of pubs in the area as well, you've got ... and bars, you've got Tequila Mockingbird, you've got The London Hotel, The Paddington, The Grand National Hotel, there's ... I mean, there's so many that it's hard to even think of all of them.

If, after you've gone, as part of the beautiful crowd, from Jackies, you can then go over to Fred's for a very nice French meal on Oxford Street, and again, something that some of us only think about, we don't actually attempt.

Michelle: It's worth going to, though.

Marcus: Shopping, Paddington's, again, fantastic. Oxford Street itself had probably died down from where it was a few years back, so if you go down Oxford Street, you will still see some empty stores, or empty locations, but there's galleries galore stretching all the way over to Woollahra. Paddington Markets I've been dragged to a few times on a Saturday, during my days, and Oxford Street and the surrounding sort of streets and avenues have lots of little corner stores as so on.

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Michelle: It's actually ... It's a great suburb destination if you're after those high-end designer Australian designers, for fashion. You know, talking Zimmermann, Scanlan Theodore, all those kinds of ... They're in the laneways, just tucked behind-

Marcus: I have no idea who any of those people are.

Michelle: It's a good thing I'm here, Marcus.

Marcus: Yes, yes, for some of our listeners, I'm just adding weight to the show at this point.

Michelle: No, but definitely in the laneways behind Oxford Street you'll find those little boutiques that are worth visiting, you know, on a Sunday afternoon with your latte in hand, after you've spent a bit of money at the Paddington Market, so definitely worth having a look there.

Marcus: Then, if you're in the marker, if you're in the area, for parks you've got , which is just off the corner of Oxford Street and Moore Park Road, and huge, I mean, you could spend days in that park, it's so big, and entering from the Paddington gates. And then you have Moore Park itself farther on from the SEG and the ... I was going to say the , but Allianz. And then, also, the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, which we mentioned earlier.

If it's dog friendly parks that you're after, Harris Street Reserve is on-leash, and Centennial Park does have an off-leash and on-leash area. And then, also, the Park, which is available with the exception of Sundays, and that had a bit of, I guess, interesting history itself, don't it?

Michelle: Yeah, absolutely, because it was ... because actually it was a full acre estate bought by the Benevolent Society because they were concerned about public health in 1901, and the original farmhouse, consisting of 14 rooms, had a lying- in hospital for women. Yeah, so, in 1905 it was officially opened as the Royal Hospital for Women, and it remained on that site for about 100 years, and then in 1997 the hospital moved to its new premises at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, of course. And then, of course, then after that the site became known as Paddington Green.

Marcus: And speaking of hospitals there, in and around the area, your local would be St. Vincent's, would be your closest, and then if you're after, or if you're going farther afield, you'd probably end up at Prince of Wales, would be your next nearest.

Michelle: Which has both public and private-

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Marcus: So that ... I mean, that's a very brief snapshot of Paddington, a really interesting suburb that has some very unique properties. It had a very affluent lifestyle for many of the residents there, especially if you can afford the driver, as I keep coming back to, and keep dreaming of.

So, hopefully that's been of interest. If you have any questions about either Paddington or other suburbs that you'd like to hear about on the show, or even questions just about property, or other ideas that you'd like us to present on, please let us know via email at [email protected], that's A-S-K at Sydney Property Insider dot com dot A-U.

And that's all from us for this week. Michelle, thanks for a great show, and we'll see you next week.

Michelle: Thank you, until next week.

Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature and do not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, and means. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstance and seek professional advice where appropriate.

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