Thirdi brings GoGet car share to Newcastle

Development company the Thirdi Group has snared a coup for Newcastle teaming up with GoGet, Australia’s largest car sharing network, to launch their services in Newcastle with plans to establish a one hundred strong fleet of cars and vans across Newcastle.

In an Australian first, The Thirdi Group, the company behind the successful WestEnd Precinct, will offer purchasers of an apartment the option to activate free driving credits which will be more than enough to cover an average inner-city resident’s vehicle needs.

Luke Berry, Director of Thirdi Group, said its firm was thrilled to be part of such a great initiative.

It has become clear that developers need to recognise that apartment buyers are turning away from traditional requirements like parking and find significant value in developments that offers a range of shared and sustainable options.

“We are known for creating properties full of what we call ‘#innovativebrilliance’ and we believe our GoGet partnership now allows us to extend this right through to the basements of our buildings,” Luke said.

“In terms of customer value, we see this type of offering right in line with Home Automation, integrated appliances and the high-end fixtures and fittings we are now offering in our apartments.

“If companies like mine aren’t exploring innovations like this, we are holding the next generation back when it comes to flexible and sustainable living.”

Close to ten per cent of GoGet’s estimated fleet will be permanently located in the WestEnd with majority in the basement of Thirdi Developments, Eaton on Union & Stella on Hannell, due for completion June & December 2020.

Purchasers are already seeing the value of the partnership.

Sydney property investor, Les Parry said he recently secured two apartments within WestEnd and decided to secure a one-bedroom apartment without a car space because of the unique coupling of his development with the GoGet car sharing service.

“As soon as I was presented with Thirdi’s vision to include a service like GoGet in their basements, it was a no-brainer for me to consider the one-bedroom property without the park,” Les said.

“It was significantly cheaper and with it located right next to the transport interchange it made complete sense to me that my likely tenant wouldn’t place a high priority on having a car park.

“With the thousands of university students coming to the CBD in the future and record numbers of people downsizing and choosing inner city living, this is the sort of service I want my property associated with to capitalize on,” Les said.

Christopher Vanneste, GoGet’s Head of Locations and Partnerships said GoGet was impressed by Thirdi’s determination to make car share a critical part of its development.

“Often a developer will approach us with a condition to fulfil, a challenge car share might be able to solve. Thirdi has been very different. They took a long-term, visionary approach from the start. They get that we are seeing a move to transit-oriented development which involves the removal of unnecessary parking,” Christopher said.

“Doing this can save developers millions in construction costs and give them a competitive amenity, car share. Overall costs for the buyer are reduced, increasing affordability, and marketability of the apartments is enhanced.”

Newcastle’s affirmative direction on smart cities has put it in a leadership role among regional centres and attracted GoGet’s attention as a promising launch candidate.

Deputy Lord Mayor, Declan Clausen, said that GoGet is likely to be one of the strategic steppingstones that will make Newcastle a smarter city for locals.

“Car share is part of Newcastle’s smart city strategy,” Declan said.

“Today, Newcastle has more smart shared transport options than some capital cities. Initiatives like Thirdi’s show what innovation can happen when a future- thinking developer connects with the vision of a future-thinking City,” he said.

GoGet is operated by CarShare Australia, formed to bring car sharing services to Australia.

 

Founded by Directors Nic Lowe and Bruce Jeffreys in 2003 with three vehicles and twelve members, today GoGet has over 3,500 vehicles and 145,000 members.

 

Full Story from Hunter Headline

Precinct 21 set to get city heart beating

By Chris Lees

It’s hoped a new multimillion-dollar commercial precinct will be the catalyst for more retail, food and beverage stores in Townsville’s city centre. Precinct 21, a five-level office building at 21 Stoke St and the former offices of AECOM, revealed its $10 million transformation last night.

Thirdi Group director of sales and marketing Luke Berry said it was an important site for Townsville’s CBD, with office workers the key to reactivating other commercial offerings like retail, food and beverage outlets in the city.

“The aim is to attract tenants of a scale that will have a positive impact on other commercial offerings in the city and also attract new businesses,” he said.

“Above all, this refurbished building presents an unmatched opportunity for commercial tenants to secure a first-class office space in the absolute heart of the central business district.”

Mr Berry said millions of dollars of internal and external construction had transformed the site into 5800sq m of A-grade commercial leasing space.

“Precinct 21 is located in a high profile position on the corner of Stokes and Sturt streets with fantastic branding opportunities for tenants,” he said.

“The open-plan layout provides flexibility for tenants to custom fit their space to suit their requirements and with an average of 1000sq m floor plates over five levels, there is plenty of space to adapt with changing needs.”

The Third Group acquired the site through E Property Group, which has been retained to manage its leasing.

 

Story from Daily Telegraph

Thirdi Wins Major Award

For the second year running Thirdi Group has been nominated for a UDIA NSW award for excellence. This year Thirdi Group in Partnership with Milligan Group and SJB architects WON the award for Urban Renewal and Adaptive Reuse. The win came as recognition for the excellent development of our stunning ICONIC, at Waterloo. The acknowledgement came about for our revitalisation of the CHUBB building, integrating its features while constructing a whole new structure within. The appropriation of the existing building created a new life for the building in its established location.

The ICONIC is located within the CHUBB heritage building. The heritage façade wraps the new apartment block within giving the heritage site a new lease in life. We love the relationship the two aspects have with one another, the heritage aspects transition vertically from the brick from the CHUBB building to the terracotta balustrade as they play with the colours and textures.

The owners are excited to live in a beautiful heritage home with light airy modern features throughout.

We are excited to accept the honour and continue our work.

Buy an apartment and drive for free

Real Estate.com
By Emily Hutchinson

It was recently announced that residential developer Thirdi has teamed up with car sharing company GoGet to allow new residents to drive around Newcastle for free in the first of its kind in Australia.

Thirdi Group has partnered with GoGet to establish a 100 strong fleet of cars and vans across Newcastle.

What’s the catch? There’s no catch. The developer’s WestEnd Precinct in Newcastle’s CBD is working with car sharing company, GoGet to ensure that each apartment will have the option to activate free driving credits.

These driving credits will be more than enough to ensure the driver can get from point A to point B all across town.

The plan is to establish a 100 strong fleet of cars and vans across Newcastle with 10% of GoGet’s projected fleet permanently located in the WestEnd developments.

Around 10% of GoGet’s projected fleet will be located in the WestEnd with a majority in the Thirdi Developments – Eaton and Stella.

This initiative demonstrates the developer’s focus on creating projects that veer away from traditional parking options associated with apartment living and instead, looks to the future of shared and sustainable options.

From a sustainability angle, each car share vehicle on the road replaces 10 private vehicles, which inevitably frees up on-street parking and traffic.

“If companies like mine aren’t exploring innovations like this, we are holding the next generation back when it comes to flexible and sustainable living,” says Luke Berry, Director of Thirdi Group.

Each apartment sold in the WestEnd Precinct will have the option to activate free driving credits.

The deal has been appealing to buyers and investors alike who have been given the opportunity to save money by opting for an apartment without a car space.

Les Parry is a Sydney-based property investor who recently purchased two apartments within a Thirdi development and said the GoGet deal benefitted him.

There are benefits to investors and owner occupiers.

“As soon as I was presented with Thirdi’s vision to include a service like GoGet in their basements, it was a no-brainer for me to consider the one-bedroom property without the park,” he says.

“It was significantly cheaper and with it located right next to the transport interchange, it made complete sense to me that my likely tenant wouldn’t place a high priority on having a car park.”

The WestEnd Precinct includes the Eaton and Stella developments, both of which are due for completion in June and December 2020 respectively.

This Australian first offers free driving credits with the apartment purchase.

Not only are there forward-thinking amenities like the GoGet driving credit included in the apartments, but other smart home features have been installed for the 21st century resident to enjoy.

These include advanced security in which you can select ‘away mode’ and see on your smart phone who visits your home in your absence.

You can control your lights through your hand-held device and the automated heating and cooling means you can organise these settings ahead of your arrival at home.

“In terms of customer value, we see this type of offering right in line with Home Automation, integrated appliances and the high-end fixtures and fittings we are now offering in our apartments,” says Berry.

 

FOR FULL STORY HEAD TO:

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/buy-an-apartment-and-drive-for-free/

Car-sharing platform GoGet arrives in Newcastle

GoGet has about 3500 cars in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane and hopes to have 15 to 20 cars on the streets of Newcastle by early October.

The Newcastle Herald reported in February that Newcastle council had agreed to investigate whether to turn over some of the city’s on-street parking spaces to car-share operators.

Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said on Monday that council staff were working on a policy to accommodate companies such as GoGet.

GoGet’s head of locations and partnerships, Christopher Vanneste, said the company was negotiating with the council about accessing on-street parking spaces.

“We’ve given them a proposal of where we’re looking for an expected initial network, obviously fairly focused on that kind of inner-city place we usually start and grow out,” he said.

“Depending on how quickly Newcastle residents take it up, 100 cars you’re probably looking at a two- to three-year growth plan.”

But the company will make its initial foray into the Newcastle market on Tuesday after striking a deal with Thirdi Group offering apartment buyers or their tenants three years of GoGet credits.

Thirdi director Luke Berry said on Monday that eight GoGet vehicles would be housed under two apartment buildings under construction in Wickham. Two more would be based at Thirdi’s sales office and under the already completed West apartment block.

Mr Berry and GoGet head of communications Jonathan Englert said GoGet customers who were not residents of the apartment buildings also would be able to access the car parks to use the vehicles.

“This is essentially the announcement of the launch in Newcastle,” Mr Englert said.

“Developments can be a really great way to launch because developers get the benefit of what you could call a competitive advantage, which makes the properties more enticing, and the communities get the benefit.”

The vehicles will be a combination of passenger cars, vans and utes, all of which users return “back to base”.

Mr Berry said car sharing made sense given his buildings’ proximity to the Newcastle Interchange.

He said access to GoGet cars would make apartments without a dedicated parking spot more appealing to investors, tenants and couples who wanted to get rid of their second car.

“I’ve had to give up selling parks to do this,” he said.

“Usually a developer hates not having enough parks to give every unit a park.”

Mr Berry said GoGet and Thirdi had calculated the average inner-city dweller needed a car to travel about 25 kilometres a week.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE:

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6361731/car-sharing-platform-arrives-in-newcastle/

GoGet Car Sharing Services Coming to Newcastle

By HANNAH-LOUISE ANDERSON

The development company Thirdi Group is teaming up with GoGet to launch it’s car sharing services in Newcastle, starting with the company’s own Westend Precinct.

Over one hundred cars and vans are set to be scattered over the city centre and fringes in an attempt to assist those who can’t afford a vehicle of their own or have no access to parking facilities.

“As a developer this sort of partnership makes complete sense.” says Thirdi Group’s Director of Sales and Marketing Luke Perry.

“When you think about connectivity and transport, any form of transport that a city explores that’s flexible and sustainable will be greater for all residents in Newcastle.”

“The platform’s been created to give people that may not be able to afford a full-time car or need a secondary car flexibility where you can become a member, and within minutes hire a car you can use to go about your daily business.”

The aim of the arrangement is to provide property owners with the chance to access the vehicles for hire, with ‘free driving credits’ available to cover the basic needs of Westend residents.

“We’ve worked out the average urban dweller needs about twenty-five kilometres per week and university students or individuals who don’t want to carry the cost of owning a car can become a member and take advantage of the GoGet credits and the wavering of the membership fees that we’ve negotiated for our projects.” says Mr Perry.

An estimated ten percent of GoGet’s fleet is set to be permanently located in the Westend or in the basements of the Union and Hannel Street Thirdi Developments due for completion in 2020 with the hope of expansion in the future.

 

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE HEAD HERE:

http://2nurfmnews.blogspot.com/2019/09/goget-car-sharing-services-coming-to.html

THE HERALD’S OPINION: GoGet’s arrival part of Newcastle’s modernising appeal

As we are reporting, Newcastle’s first eight GoGet vehicles will have their “home” parking spaces in the basements of two apartment blocks being built in Wickham.

The company hopes to have 15 to 20 cars on the streets of Newcastle by early next month, with the potential for 100 or so vehicles in the coming two to three years, if demand pans out as expected.

In partnering with developers, GoGet is making use of a strategy that has helped it expand from its beginnings in Sydney in 2003 with three vehicles and 12 founding members, to a fleet today of 3500 vehicles in five cities.

Newcastle City Council is working on a policy to accommodate car-sharing companies such as GoGet, and the company has has said it is negotiating with the council about access to on-street parking spaces.

If the City of Sydney is any guide, this will mean converting existing public parking spaces into car-share spaces dedicated to individual companies. The Sydney council’s web page says there are three car-sharing businesses within its boundaries, serving some 31,000 residential and business members from 700 dedicated parking spaces. Some of these are off-street in parking stations or building car-parks but the majority are on the street. The City of Sydney boasts the highest rate of car-free households in metropolitan Sydney – 35 per cent to a city-wide average of 12 per cent – but the loss of public car-parking spaces in areas with limited off-street parking has apparently proved less than universally popular.

Similar complaints are not hard to imagine in Newcastle, but if the council wants commercial car-share operators to help it reduce vehicle traffic in the CBD, then the parking spaces will need to be found.

More importantly, the arrival of GoGet should provide another service – in the same vein as the powered cycle provider Bykko – that visitors and residents alike will come to demand if Newcastle is serious about its claims to becoming a global city. Especially at a time when a younger generation of drivers is embracing the share economy to the point where owning a car is no longer the coming-of-age ritual it was.

 

TO READ FULL ARTICLE HEAD TO:

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6362838/car-share-operator-starts-its-engines/ 

CAR SHARING SERVICE LAUNCHING IN NEWCASTLE

NBN News

By Sam Burbury

With parking at a premium in Newcastle, Thirdi Group may have come up with a novel solution.

It’s joined forces with a national car-sharing company GoGet, to launch its service locally… and give residents more transport options.

 

CAR SHARING SERVICE LAUNCHING IN NEWCASTLE

TO READ FULL ARTICLE HEAD TO:

https://www.nbnnews.com.au/ 

Car-sharing network GoGet launches in Newcastle

Newcastle Daily Telegraph

By Amy Ziniak

Australia’s largest car-sharing network, GoGet, has launched in Newcastle, with plans to build a 100 strong fleet of cars and vans.

It comes after an agreement was struck with development company, The Thirdi Group, offering apartment buyers or their tenants free GoGet driving credits.

Thirdi Group director Luke Berry said it had become clear, developers need to recognise apartment buyers were turning away from traditional requirements like parking.

“We see this type of offering right in line with Home Automation, integrated appliances and the high-end fixtures and fittings we are now offering in our apartments,” Mr Berry said.

“There’s great stories of downsizing where people are going from a house to an inner city living apartment, going from two cars to one and using GoGet as their secondary vehicle. It makes sense.”

Ten per cent of GoGet’s estimated fleet will be permanently be located in Wickham’s West End precinct.

Eight will be situated in the basement of developments, Eaton on Union and Stella on Hannell due for completion next year, while one will be at West in the precinct, the other in-front of the display suite.

Josh Brydges, locations and transport planner from GoGet said Newcastle has been on its radar for a long time.

“We’ve been watching all the changes and developments going on and looking at things council has been doing with its smart strategy, and then we formed a great partnership with Thirdi,” he said.

“The future of transport is right here in the centre of Newcastle. It’s an alternative to private car ownership.”

Thirdi Group director Luke Berry, Investor Les Parry, locations and transport planner GoGet Josh Brydges.

Not only is the partnership said to save developers millions in construction costs, overall costs for buyers are reduced, increasing affordability of apartments.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen has welcomed the news and said car share is part of Newcastle’s smart city strategy.

“Newcastle has more smart shared transport options than some capital cities,” he said.

“ Initiatives like Thirdi’s show what innovation can happen when a future-thinking developer connects with the vision of a future-thinking City.”

TO READ THE ARTICLE HEAD TO:

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/thenewcastlenews/deal-struck-with-development-company-sees-arrival-of-goget-carsharing-to-newcastle/news-story/63fc9f2643331279cac36e90ece91551 

GoGet joins Newcastle’s shifting transport picture

Newcastle’s love affair with the privately owned car is facing challenges due to parking scarcity and new transport options, especially in the inner-city.

In the past two years alone, park-and-ride and on-demand buses, light rail and bike sharing have entered the city’s transport mix.

Scooter-sharing platform Lime is eyeing off a trial, and several electric-vehicle charging stations have sprung up in the city.

The city’s new private bus operator, Keolis Downer, has changed the public transport network, and City of Newcastle has commissioned the company to run a driverless bus trial in the city.

Deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said the council’s strategy was to encourage walking, cycling and public transport.

“However, I don’t believe it’s possible to live in Newcastle without access to a car, and car sharing provides that,” he said.

“You couldn’t point to any city around the world where parking is easy.

“The level of service we’ve come to expect in Newcastle is not realistic as the city densifies.”

GoGet will start in Newcastle with 10 cars based at new apartment buildings in Wickham, but it plans to expand to on-street parking in coming months.

Its pricing plans range from $49 a year to $30 a month in subscription fees plus usage charges from $6.50 an hour and 40 cents per kilometre for fuel.

The council is working on a policy which would reserve on-street parking spots for car-share vehicles.

Cr Clausen said firms such as GoGet would have to show regularly that the spaces were being used efficiently.

Greens councillor John Mackenzie said transport alternatives such as car sharing, park-and-ride and cycleways were “inevitable”, even though the city was still relatively easy to navigate by car.

“If we’re late in terms of making judgments, we’ll be blamed for lack of foresight,” he said.

“Getting on the front foot is the right thing to do.”

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