"It's finished inside" and this is our 100th post

Swung by HM on the way through Pyrmont today, and as I was taking a photo of dirt instead of the hoped-for concrete driveway, a Ceerose chap came out for a friendly chat.

He was not prepared to commit to a moving date, but said it's finished inside, they just have to complete outside. From this picture, that's still a fair bit of work.

He explained that Ceerose likes to hand over its buildings in great shape, not with things still left to do. He said some builders rush the tenants in and then spend 6 months fixing and finishing. He could not commit to a date because even when finished, government departments had to approve it. Sigh!

It's now October and we all expected to be in residence by now, but I'm prepared to accept the Ceerose story that they are finishing a quality product. The delay has been frustrating but I guess that's one of the consequences of buying off-the-plan.

We promise not to post another photo of a dirt driveway - it will need a lot of concrete to grace these pages next time.

The house-warming party might be Christmas drinks, folks.

First, the good news ...

Let's be positive and start with some good pictures.

The driveway is being paved in handsome, square pavers. A neat feature, much better than concrete. More shrubs have been brought in, hopefully for the eastern garden which was looking a bit sparse.

The north-facing garden is looking great, with the backdrop of the old flour mill. This will be a lovely place to sit in the northern sun in the afternoon, especially as the trees become more established.

And the main lift foyer is bright and open, this photo taken from the expressway side.

So that's the good news. Not so good is the work still underway at the front.

The next two photos give some indication why there has been delays - not only have the pipes/sewers been relocated in the forecourt/driveway area, but even the road has been dug up. Although we have not had official word from Ceerose, I'm guessing this has been part of the problem. At least people were working on the weekend, which shows a resolve to fix it.

Three more items finished, and ... "Sometime this month"

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Visited on a beautiful Saturday, and good to see a few things 'finished'.

The 'grain loader' house (we need a name for it) looks good, sparkling in the sun now the scaffolding has been removed. It will be a distinct landmark and add to HM's uniqueness.

The path from the stairs to the light rail has also been completed.

Plus the stairs themselves have been paved, and are now looking very handsome, much better than leaving the concrete exposed.

But the front of the site, near the entry to the car park, still needs a lot of work, so we did not photograph that.

We asked a worker on the site when he will be finished. "Ask the boss," he said, pointing back to the building. "Sometime this month." We're grateful for small mercies.

Looking up towards the finishing line ...

Today, it felt more like we're on the finishing straight, or at least the last lap.

The light rail lift looks almost complete (click on the image to enlarge it), and judging by the pile of bricks now sitting in the driveway, the wall from the lift will be extended all the way along the western boundary to join the brick wall along Jones Street.

The concreting of the front forecourt area, near the entrance to the car park, is well underway. I image this could be finished next week. Did they leave this to last because heavy trucks might damage it?

Here's a picture looking up the driveway, with kerbs now installed. I hope this driveway will be paved. The original landscaping diagram also included a row of trees between the driveway and the terraces, and there might enough room for this. But I think the planting on the eastern side looks rather threadbare. By my count on the original landscape diagram, there should be about 40 shrubs, but it's more like tall grass. So that's either a job for Ceerose or the body corporate.

Looking forward to 'breasting' the finishing tape.