Expected ... wait for it ... within 7 days

Legal representatives should have received this from Jason at Ceerose today:

"We have received an interim occupation certificate for the above property (see attached) and are in the process of meeting the requirements for the final occupation certificate.

As indicated in our last email, we have lodged the strata plan. The allocated strata plan number is  SP92496. Since then we have received a few requisitions from the Land and Property Information which have in the main been addressed. We are in the process of meeting the final requisition, which is to obtain a signoff from Council in respect to the public domain works to release the voluntary planning agreement from the title.  Those public domain works have been complete and we coordinating the required release.

Accordingly, we expect to be able to issue the registration package to purchasers solicitors within the next 7 days.

We will be able settle any time after the registration package has been issued to purchasers and would encourage purchasers to coordinate settlements with this office as early as possible after receiving that notice. Otherwise we would refer you to the contract provisions in respect to due settlement dates.

Further instructions concerning the settlement process will be contained in our notice of registration letter."

Good news on Jones Lane vacant land

Received this note from Sailesh, our strata manager. This is good news, as once the builders stopped parking on the vacant land, it could have turned into a mess. I believe once the fence is up, the area will then be landscaped.

Hi Graham

Some very good news in relation to the strip of land next to Jones Lane Pyrmont, which is subject to illegal campers and free parking.

80 Fig Street, which is managed by one of my colleague at Netstrata, who had been in constant touch with Road and Maritime Services, have confirmed that police have been contacted and attended to the site to speak to the illegal campers.

Ventia Boral Amey Joint Venture, on behalf of Roads and Maritime Services, will be responsible for the litter removal around the site and it is planned to do a full clean-up of the site including removing abandoned vehicles and litter pickup when the fencing is installed.

Regards,

Sailesh Shakya

Wheels turning slowly ...

Spoke to Jason today. I told him that Christmas and New Year bring extra urgency, with critical times when people have leases expiring and family plans in place. He assured me he is doing all he can.

Last week, he had sent me this note:

"At the moment we are addressing a requisition from the Land Titles Office concerning the heritage grain shed that overhangs railcorp land. The requisition requests us to register an easement over the Railcorp land, but Railcorp have indicated they are not inclined to support an easement as it is not consistent with their policies. The parties since the begining have proceeded with a licence agreement for this. The matter is currently with Railcorp legal. I am waiting for a formal written response from Railcorp before approaching the Registrar of the Land Titles Office to resolve this issue. There are a few other issues we are dealing with in conjunction with this. I would hope to be in front of the registrar early next week to argue the point, but need to have the Railcorp formal response before doing so."

So there had been a standoff between the LTO and Railcorp relating to the grain shed, but today, LTO relaxed its position and he feels Railcorp will accept a compromise when he puts it to them tomorrow. He said it would be counterproductive if any owners became involved and tried to pressure a government official. If this goes OK, then he would have Railcorp sign off by the end of the week.

He also hopes for the Occupancy Certificate by the end of the week, at which time he hopes to write to owners with new dates. The final 'certifier' is an independent person who signifies everything is ready. He would then take this to the LTO who might sign off in a few days.

So with a bit of luck, it will go like this:

By 27 November, Railcorp signs off.

By 4 December, LTO signs off.

A few days for everything else, ready to settle around 8-10 December. 

But Jason was making no promises. I almost pleaded with him to let everyone know we are all desperate to be in before Christmas. 

I'm not familiar with all these processes so I may not have described this totally accurately, but what matters most is the end date.

Window coverings

Lots of talk on the blog about window coverings.

The Body Corporate will be charged with preserving the overall appearance of HM. The architects have gone to great efforts to develop a so-called 'macro' appearance and it would be tragic if everyone added their own red and yellow curtains and destroyed the look. Same with drying washing on balconies.

There will be a strict enforcement of a simple 'off-white' colour palate for window coverings, and the Body Corporate can ask for coverings to be removed if they infringe the standard. The limited range will be like this:

We are arranging roller blinds for our apartment, with 'block out' blinds on the bedrooms facing east, and 'sunscreen' blinds like the following for the living area:

I believe colour is the main issue rather than type, so there is more flexibility in design choice.

3rd most livable suburb in Sydney! :)

This morning I was excited to read on the SMH.com that Pyrmont has been rated as the 3rd most livable suburb to live in in Sydney.

That's another box ticked for Pyrmont!

How liveable is your suburb?

Index Rank	Area
1	Crows Nest - Waverton
1	Surry Hills
3	Pyrmont - Ultimo
3	Marrickville
5	Potts Point - Woolloomooloo

The roof terrace for a 'housewarming' party

Thanks to Viliala who spotted a leasing advertisement with some great photos of the rooftop terrace, which few if any of us have been allowed to view in person.

All tenants have exclusive access to this area. It looks like a great spot, with views to the city and west over Wentworth Park. I can see a few glasses of chardy and shiraz, and maybe the odd ale or cider, being consumed here after we all move in. Housewarming/Christmas Party anyone? 

Timing update for Wednesday 11 November

I asked Ceerose for an update on settlement timing and received this reply:

"It's hard to estimate. Council has inspected the public domain works and asked for a few extra things. We need their sign off to remove a planning agreement that is currently on title. This is holding up the finalisation of the registration. Some minor redrafting by the surveyor required also. I went to the land titles office today and seemed to be positive. The case officer processing the file said as soon as we get the sign off by council, we can hand it to her and she will process it just before the strata plan is registered. There are one of two other things they are working through as well. As I understand, Heritage signoff and artwork sign off is also with Council.

We are hoping for 1 week, but it depends on how fast council and the land titles office can work. Most of the items are now in their hands. The project team is pushing them daily."

Here's a great angle of HM taken from below, near the train line, showing the path to the lift and the lights down the steps. There is also a lot of lighting on the building itself so it should look good at night.

And keep the feedback coming on your inspections. Good to share impressions.