Elana and her friend have been living at HM for a few nights and they love the place. The apartment is finished in a high standard, and the people we have met are friendly. Seems like a good mix of age and ethnic origins to make for an interesting community.
I've been surprised how few people have moved in. It was busier with removal trucks today, but many people seem to be leaving it until after Christmas. The car park is eerily quiet.
After receiving delivery of some new stuff and a bit of old, the apartment is looking great. Here's a late afternoon shot of the living room, with its good-sized balcony.
One aspect that is seriously annoying is that the access into Darling Harbour by wheelchair is still blocked and has been for many months. I'm complaining at the highest level of Lend Lease.
I met with Lend Lease two years ago when they won the tender to rebuild the Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre and Entertainment Centre. They absolutely assured me that wheelchair access from Pyrmont via the lift into Darling Harbour would remain open at all times. Yet it has been closed since September, due to Lend Lease inserting four steps into the route to the lift while they undertake the changes. They might as well have built a mountain. I have been in constant contact with them and they make false promises every week on when the new bridge (without steps) would be completed.
And today they told me of further delays, and they would not be on the job again until 6 January 2016. Thanks a lot. That makes access to Darling Harbour for work and Christmas and New Year festivities very difficult for anyone in a wheelchair.
I plan to buy some shares in Lend Lease to attend the AGM and give the Chairman a piece of my mind for their disregard of disability access rights.
And to make matters worse, access to the light rail via the lift will also not open until after Christmas, although nobody at Ceerose knows why the council will not sign off on the new lift.
So while it's great to be in for Christmas, the access issues are compromising the experience, and we're learning that taxi drivers often have a lot of trouble finding the building.
What apartment are you Elana? I settled today and picked up the keys. Now to do some cleaning and start moving some stuff in. :) Enver
ReplyDeleteWe settled on G09 on Tuesday and are so disappointed with the property.
ReplyDeleteThe layout is completely different to the sales plan, chipped and cracked floor tiles in bathroom, our toilet had been used and not cleaned, a queen size bed will not fit in the bedroom, keys to Windows/doors don't work, bedroom window has a huge piece of steel protruding which will prevent blinds being installed.
Intercom installed 50cm from the floor, AC controller located 5cm from tv mounting point.
Dishwasher cord has no plug attached nor is there a power point to connect to (if it did have a 3 pin plug attached).
Cupboards, wardrobes, doors etc all poorly thought out as they hit walls/basins/glass.
Nightmare.
On the plus side I met a nice couple who were in the process of moving in. They too have a list of huge issues including a floating floor that literally floats.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3789hf2pk1b8xmj/2015-12-22%2021.30.46.jpg?dl=0
Deletehttps://www.dropbox.com/s/33a9cjrfdikwyez/2015-12-22%2020.49.29.jpg?dl=0
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DeleteHi David, I'm sure if you log the defects you mentioned, it will get looked at. I'm not sure about your specific outlets (air con & intercom) but I do know that I've had one general purpose outlet (GPO) relocated and patched. It was mentioned that David's electrician is unlikely to get through the current work list before Xmas but there could be an interim solution for your missing dishwasher outlet plug at least before then.
DeleteOur ntercom is at eye level but unsure if it's properly working. We can get images and let guests in but there is no sound on either end? We tried to help our Harvey Norman delivery person contact another apartment but it doesn't seem like the front intercom with the mailboxes are operating as they should either.
I thought this was an issue too. It seems you need to hit the answer button once to get video and again to get sound.
DeleteThanks Reed! I'll give it a go. I think we met last night too when we were all moving things - hope it all goes well. It was lovely to meet you and Hannah (hope I spelt it correctly)
DeleteDo you guys know if the windows are double glazed?
ReplyDeleteThe windows are not double-glazed, but they are supposed to be thicker glass than normal. I believe they are at least 10mm whereas standard glass is 3-5mm. While I cannot vouch for every window, our apartment which is on the east side is fine when the doors are closed. Obviously, a bit noisy when they are open.
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Hi Graham,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that no lift access to darling harbour is outrageous! I was not aware of this. With a baby in the pram, we were also hoping for easy access to darling harbour with its restaurants and the playground. Thank you for taking this up with Lend Lease - this is a serious breach of their promise. I also note that bus 443 Pyrmont-Circular Quay has now been discontinued! This is outrageous too. Both my husband and I work in the city. We are ok to walk (takes about 30min door to door) but on some occasions like rainy weather it would be nice to catch a bus if there was one!
Window glazing - we are facing west and our glazing is just over 10mm thick (so I was told be Ceerose). Absolutely no noise when windows/doors shut. Just slight background noise when open. We sleep with window/doors open, it is really nice and fresh and the noise is negligible.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are disappointed with your apartment. The issues you have described are serious and seem unbelievable to me - don't know why some apartments may be different to the others. We also have issues, but overall we are more satisfied than not. The issues we have are:
1) freezer door
2) some big scratches on cabinets and entry door
3) the floor in some places squeaky and pushes down when stepped on (we are waiting to see if it settles)
4) water pressure in the shower / bath is a bit low
5) bathroom drain seems clogged, will try to clean it ourselves and see if it gets better
6) toilet flush a bit weak
But overall, our issues are not too bad and Inwould expect every new development to have issues /teehing problems. Overall, agree wih Elana - we are also loving our new place.
Hi Elena,
DeleteElana's freezer is also not good enough- it freezes up severely and this is due to the door not closing correctly, according to the problem shooting part of the instruction manual.
I took a close look at the installation instructions and then peered into to bottom edge of the freezer door and it would appear that they didn't fasten the panel onto the door in the recommended fashion.
I will ask Graham to look at all the 'spare parts' we found in the kitchen cabinet to see if the correct part is there.
Deb (Elana's mum)
Hi Deb,
DeleteThank you for letting me know. Can I ask you please, is Elana's freezer door screwed onto one kitchen panel, i.e.when the fridge is opened, the freezer opens at the same time? This is what has been done for us. This is wrong, as he freezer should stay shut. It shouldn't be opened so many times during the day or when the main fridge is given a clean for example. My dad unscrewed the freezer door and it now shuts separately. However, we need one more hinge to be placed at the bottom so the kitchen panel stops shaking. Don't know how long it will last like this...
Hi Elena, Graham here, yes, we seem to have the same fridge set up as you. One kitchen panel. I'd like to take a look at what you've done with your fridge, as we might do the same as a temporary measure. Send me an email on grahamhand1@gmail.com and we can catch up. You're welcome to see Elana's place as well. Cheers, Graham
DeleteHi Graham, you and family are more than welcome to see our place and fridge :-) will email you now.
DeleteHi Elena
DeleteWe just has our settlement in Dec 29th. We found that there is knocking sound which last for several seconds after the rangehood is turned off. Thought to check if you have the same issue as well? Thanks!
PS: Happy new year all.
Hi Maria,
DeleteGreat, happy NY at Harboir Mill! No, we don't have such a sound with the rangehood. With regards to the kitchen - are you planning to do some internal redesign (more drawers, pantry)? Cheers, Elena
Hi Elena, thanks for the info and great that you do not have the knocking sound issue! At least to let other owner know to watch out possible defects in the kitchen.
DeleteIn addition to inside the unit, I will write to Ceerose on building defect and outside/general area (the waterfall/pool of water in parking area is concerning).
At this moment, we do not plan to do internal redesign as have not found issue with the kitchen/fridge area (simply maybe because we have different design?) - if you would not mind, please share yours to maria.arsianti@gmail.com
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteJust sharing one more positive early impression of HM: the walk to Central Park (woolies and restaurants) is quite short and pleasant just all the way along Jones St with 2-3 parks on the way. A quiet street. Nice to walk for groceries.
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteThe alternative is walking up to the Broadway shopping centre.
I walked down Quarry Street, past Ultimo Public School and took the pedestrian bridge over to Wentworth Park. There is a lift to take you down on the park side, rather than trying to cross busy Wattle Street.
Then take the path diagonally to the set of lights on Wentworth Park Road and Bay St. The shopping centre is right there on Broadway.
they have a Harris Farm Markets, Aldi, Coles, KMart and lots of specialty stores.
According to Google Maps it is 14 minutes or 1.1 KM.
Very nice! Same distance as to Central Park.
DeleteHello all, there was an evacuation on Tuesday around 14:15 and so we got to test out the fire stairs. We are in the southern building and we exited on lower ground northern building whiuch was unexpected. It would be great if everyone started to know their closest exit points, their nearest extinguisher and the evacuation meeting point. The automatic fire doors did close off which was good and we got to see the fire curtains extend out into the atrium to separate the levels G-3 and 5+.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't hear anything out of our apartment speakers though. According to the fire control panel the trigger was from the Northern building - but I would have thought we'd still get the notice. We met Nathan who also evacuated, but didn't meet anyone else.
The fire department arrived with two trucks and were pretty prompt. Not sure what exactly triggered off the evac, but who shoulders the cost? Is the cost of the call out, to us or is it still Ceerose?
We met with Will our new building manager as the evac was occurring. He will be looking into the evac maps and meeting points but I was sure I saw some Chubb ones somewhere. Will is available on site Mon-Thu, 12:30-16:30 if you have any queries.
Hi Viliala,
ReplyDeleteWe were here in the apartment at the time of the evacuation but didn't hear anything! Saw the fire trucks, but didn't know we had to evacuate. How didnyou know - did the alarm go off in your apartment?
Hi Elena,
DeleteWe heard it from our balcony. It came from the North building, but the fire curtains and doors still activated in the South building, so something to work through at AGM.
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteThe alternative is walking up to the Broadway shopping centre.
I walked down Quarry Street, past Ultimo Public School and took the pedestrian bridge over to Wentworth Park. There is a lift to take you down on the park side, rather than trying to cross busy Wattle Street.
Then take the path diagonally to the set of lights on Wentworth Park Road and Bay St. The shopping centre is right there on Broadway.
they have a Harris Farm Markets, Aldi, Coles, KMart and lots of specialty stores.
According to Google Maps it is 14 minutes or 1.1 KM.