The body corporate levy is already on paper: $148 to $285 a week
The most common blank in an inner-city off-the-plan sale is the body corporate levy — no figure when you buy, a number when you move in. The Tannery is different: the draft first-year budget is already printed, at $148 to $285 a week including building insurance, or $7,703 to $14,794 a year, itemised down to what the building manager, the common-area electricity and the window cleaning each cost. Behind the brick wall of the old Dixon Tannery on Montague Road, McNab is selling this 11-level building as a retreat rather than a high street: the heritage building becomes The Retreat — hot and cold plunge pools, sauna, gym, cinema and library — the roof carries a heated pool and a dog-friendly lawn, and there are no shops downstairs. From $1,295,000.
That budget is the most honest part of this project, and the part most worth reading twice. Two things are worth another ten minutes: the figure is now over a year old and does not cover the top-floor apartments; and the stock board carries only south, north and west aspects — there is no east.
$1,295,000from · two bedroom · 439 Montague Road, West End
Suburb data · West End
A rental-heavy inner suburb that is still growing
A note on basis first: this project has no rental appraisal and the material carries no rent figure, so we are not calculating a yield. What can be verified is the population, the tenure mix, the developer's distances, and that body corporate budget — which in inner-city off-the-plan is unusually transparent.
- West End statistical area population (2025 preliminary)
- 17,92815,279 in 2021
- Rented share (2021 Census)
- 58.3%of occupied private dwellings
- Brisbane CBD
- about 2.5 kmMcNab's location schedule
- West End ferry terminal
- about 300 msame
- West End Markets
- 1.3 kmsame
- Body corporate levy (incl. building insurance)
- $148 – $285 a weekdraft first-year budget printed 3 Jul 2025
- Council rates
- about $2,000 a yearFAQ estimate; water separately metered
Those first two lines describe the street a buyer is walking into: around twenty-six hundred more residents in four years, and in the 2021 Census 58.3% of occupied private dwellings were rented — a tenant-majority inner suburb. For an investor that is evidence of demand; for an owner-occupier it means higher neighbourhood turnover. Both readings are worth knowing.
The levy line deserves unpacking, because it is the number to understand first here. The whole-of-building first-year budget totals $770,673, including $220,649 for the caretaker and building manager, $65,000 for common-area electricity and $35,000 for window cleaning. Those three alone are more than forty per cent of it — and they are the direct cost of The Retreat, the heated rooftop pool and eleven levels of glass facade. In other words: the levy is what it is precisely because the roof and The Retreat are here. Decide whether you will actually use those plunge pools and that cinema, and you have settled the money question.
Two limits must be stated: this budget is a draft, not a figure passed by a general meeting, it was printed on 3 July 2025 and is now over a year old; and it excludes the top-floor apartments, whose levies are unpublished. Ask for the latest version before signing.
For sale · The Tannery
Prices are banded by type, and there are only three aspects
The starting prices come from the developer's undated FAQ (the project folder was compiled 31 July 2026); there is no dated apartment-by-apartment price list in the folder, so the table below is bands, not the price of any one apartment. The published plans cover levels 3 to 9.
| Type | Balcony | Internal area | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two bedroom (Type A / A1) | 11 m² | 87 – 90 m² | $1,295,000 |
| Two bedroom + MPR | — | — | $1,450,000 |
| Three bedroom | — | — | $1,990,000 |
| Three bedroom + MPR | — | — | $2,400,000 |
| Four bedroom (e.g. level 9 Type U) | up to 63 m² | up to 183 m² (246 m² total) | $3,200,000 |
A specific flag on the entry position: the smallest two-bedroom is 87 to 90 m² internal with an 11 m² balcony. Eighty-seven square metres is not small for the inner city, but an 11 m² balcony means the outdoor space is table-sized — and the whole selling proposition of this building is its shared space, so the trade is deliberate: private balcony surrendered in favour of The Retreat and the roof. Buyers who accept that logic will be very happy with it; buyers who do not should look straight at the larger-balcony plans. At the other end, the level 9 Type U takes the balcony to 63 m² for a 246 m² total, the ceiling of the published plans.
A number of the two-bedrooms include a multi-purpose room, as do some three-bedrooms — a genuinely useful inclusion in an inner-city two-bedroom, because it keeps the second bedroom from being conscripted as the study.
Choose aspect and level first, then compare prices. That matters more than usual in this building, because the stock board carries only south, north and west — there is no east column. In Brisbane, north gets sun, south gets almost none in winter, and west has to pay for the summer afternoon in shading and air conditioning. The documents contain no aspect premium schedule at all, which means the same plan facing south and facing north may be priced identically — and that is exactly why settling aspect before price saves you not money but a decade of how the apartment feels. Level is the same: on a street like Montague Road, level 3 and level 9 are different propositions for noise and outlook.
The top-floor apartments — the largest plans, including the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom layouts — need a specific warning: the folder has no plans, no areas and no prices for them, and the website says only "The Penthouses, coming soon". Do not proceed on one without all three.
Delivery and contract · McNab
Construction has started; completion is still "anticipated"
Start with what holds up: construction has started. The project website said so when read on 19 August 2026, and McNab's community page describes the demolition and heritage restoration already under way. McNab is both the developer and the builder, which removes one layer of counterparty risk in an off-the-plan purchase.
Under construction
Project website as at 19 August 2026; McNab's community page describes demolition and heritage restoration.
Developer and builder are the same company
McNab is both. Architect Cottee Parker, interiors Tom Mark Henry, landscape Aspect Studios.
Anticipated completion
Q3 2027. The FAQ also states construction is expected to take about 22 months.
Sunset clause
5.5 years from contract.
The sunset clause deserves its own paragraph, because it is the line to read word by word with a solicitor: anticipated completion is Q3 2027, and the sunset clause runs 5.5 years from contract — a very wide margin between the two, and the FAQ itself concedes that unforeseen delays may occur. Construction having started is a fact; it is not a contractual completion date.
Then there is what has to be obtained before contract:
The latest body corporate budget
The printed draft is the 3 July 2025 version, now over a year old, and excludes the top-floor apartments. Ask for the current version, and for how the top-floor levies will be apportioned.
The Identification Plan for your own apartment
The floor plan PDFs state that the Identification Plan in the disclosure documents governs; ask for the one covering the apartment you are buying.
A dated apartment-by-apartment price list
The folder carries banded starting prices only.
Written confirmation of aspect and level
The stock board has only three aspect columns; get your apartment's aspect and level in writing.
Three things for the top-floor apartments
Plans, areas and prices.
The full appliance schedule
The FAQ's answer on the complete appliance schedule is "TBC".
Queensland transfer duty sits on top of the price. Storage cages are purchased separately; EV charging infrastructure is provided on site with the install at each owner's cost after handover. Pets are permitted, and two lifts serve all floors.
What the building gives · The Tannery
It is selling shared space, and it says so plainly
The FAQ is direct: The Tannery is purely residential, with no shops downstairs. It has spent the area somewhere else:
- The Retreat (in the heritage building)
- Hot and cold plunge pools
- Sauna
- Gym
- Cinema
- Library
- Heated rooftop pool
- Dog-friendly lawn
- Two lifts serving all floors
- Pets permitted
Inside the apartments, per the finishes and specification schedules:
- Ceilings · living and first three bedrooms
- 2,700 mm2,400 mm to ensuites, laundry and MPR
- Kitchen
- Miele oven and induction cooktopFisher & Paykel integrated dishwasher; some plans add an integrated fridge
- Benchtops
- 20 mm natural stonekitchen island and main ensuite
- Floors
- Engineered timberwool carpet to bedrooms
- Air conditioning
- Zoned ductedbedrooms, living and study; ceiling fans to the main bedroom and living
- Car parking
- At least one per apartmentsome plans two; storage cages purchased separately
For an owner-occupier the logic of this building is clear: private balcony traded for shared space. An 11 m² balcony against a full set of plunge pools, sauna, cinema, library and a rooftop pool — if you use them, the trade is good value; if you use them a few times a year, then $148 to $285 a week is paying for someone else's lifestyle. That is the one question only you can answer here. The 2,700 mm living ceiling and the Miele / Fisher & Paykel kitchen are a solid specification for inner-city stock at this price.
For an investor, the objective position is this: no rental appraisal and no rent figure in the material, so a yield cannot be calculated, and a relatively high levy is magnified in any net return. In favour: West End's 58.3% rented share and continuing population growth mean the demand side is real. To bring this into a model, a formal rental appraisal and the latest body corporate budget both need to be in hand.
Location · West End
Inner city, on foot and by river — but no supermarket downstairs
- Brisbane CBD
- about 2.5 kmMcNab's location schedule
- West End ferry terminal
- about 300 msame
- West End Markets
- 1.3 kmsame
- Orleigh Park
- within the same walking circlesame
- Day-to-day shopping
- Montague Markets and its Woolworths, Boundary Streetthis building has no supermarket
- Catchment
- the sales presentation states the address is in the Brisbane State High School catchmentthe developer's claim; verify on EdMap
The Tannery sits on the Montague Road side of West End, set back behind the tannery's brick wall. The daily geography is inner-city and largely on foot or by river: Montague Markets with its Woolworths, Boundary Street, the riverside path, and the ferry terminal about 300 m away. One difference worth naming: unlike Cascade further along the same road, this building has no supermarket — it is purely residential, and groceries mean walking to Montague Markets. For a buyer without a car, walk that route on inspection day.
On schools, separate two things. The sales presentation states that the address is in the Brisbane State High School catchment — that is the developer's claim. Brisbane State High operates a negotiated catchment, and the Department of Education states that it reviews boundaries periodically and they may change. The brochure map also lists West End State School, Somerville House, St Laurence's College and UQ — those are distances, not catchments. There is no EdMap printout in the folder. Catchments are set by the Department of Education and change, so a buyer paying for a catchment should take the contract address to the Queensland Government's EdMap and check the year the child actually enrols. At this price, that step should not be skipped.
Who it suits · The Tannery
Who it suits, and who should think again
It suits an owner-occupier who will genuinely use the shared space — plunge pools, sauna, cinema, library and a heated rooftop pool; used weekly, $148 to $285 a week is buying a way of living rather than a bill. It suits a buyer who values transparency, because this project printed its draft first-year budget at the off-the-plan stage, itemised down to the caretaker, the common electricity and the window cleaning, which is uncommon inner-city. It suits a buyer who wants the inner city without the noise of a high street — it is set back behind the brickwork with no shops below. And it suits a pet owner, with a dog-friendly lawn on the roof.
Think again if holding costs matter — $148 to $285 a week is on the high side, and that figure is a draft, over a year old, and excludes the top-floor apartments. Think again if you need a firm handover date, because completion is only "anticipated" Q3 2027 while the sunset clause runs 5.5 years from contract. Think again if light matters: the stock board has only south, north and west, no east, and a south aspect gets almost no winter sun in Brisbane. Think again if you want a large balcony, because the entry two-bedroom has 11 m². Think again if you need a supermarket downstairs, because there is none. Think again about the top-floor apartments, since plans, areas and prices are all currently missing. And think again if you are buying for yield, because there is no rental appraisal.
For the latest body corporate budget, the Identification Plan and written aspect for your apartment, a dated apartment-by-apartment price list, or the plans and prices for the top-floor apartments, contact FX Home and we will request them.
FAQ · The Tannery
The four questions buyers ask
If I buy now, when do I get the apartment?
Construction has started (project website as at 19 August 2026), completion is anticipated in Q3 2027, and the FAQ says construction is expected to take about 22 months. But note: the sunset clause runs 5.5 years from contract, a wide margin from the anticipated date, and the FAQ itself concedes unforeseen delays may occur. An anticipated date is not a contractual date; the sunset clause is, and it needs a solicitor's word-by-word reading.
Roughly what will the body corporate levy be?
This is where the project is unusually transparent: the draft first-year budget printed 3 July 2025 gives $148 to $285 a week including building insurance ($7,703 to $14,794 a year), from a whole-of-building total of $770,673 — including $220,649 for the caretaker and building manager, $65,000 for common-area electricity and $35,000 for window cleaning. The FAQ separately estimates council rates at about $2,000 a year, with water separately metered. Two limits: it is a draft rather than a figure passed by a general meeting, and it is over a year old; and it excludes the top-floor apartments. Ask for the current version before signing.
What rent can I expect?
This project has no rental appraisal and the material carries no rent figure, so we are not quoting a yield. The regional facts you can lean on: 58.3% of West End's occupied private dwellings were rented at the 2021 Census, and the statistical area grew from 15,279 residents in 2021 to a preliminary 17,928 in 2025. To model it, obtain a formal appraisal first, and the latest body corporate budget for the net figure.
How should I choose the aspect?
Settle aspect before price. The stock board has only three columns — south, north and west, no east. In Brisbane, north gets sun, south gets almost none in winter, and west has to manage the summer afternoon. The documents contain no aspect premium schedule, so the same plan may be priced identically whichever way it faces — which is precisely why choosing aspect first is the best value decision available. Level matters too: on Montague Road, level 3 and level 9 differ entirely for noise and outlook.
General information only; not financial, legal or taxation advice. All details are subject to the contract of sale and the disclosure documents. Starting prices are quoted from the developer's undated FAQ (the project folder was compiled 31 July 2026) and are subject to the current price list; there is no dated apartment-by-apartment price list in the folder. Areas come from the published level 3 to 9 plans, and the floor plan PDFs state that the Identification Plan in the disclosure documents governs. The body corporate figure is the draft first-year budget printed 3 July 2025, including building insurance; it is not a figure passed by a general meeting and it excludes the top-floor apartments. Council rates are the FAQ's estimate. The construction status is the project website's wording as at 19 August 2026; completion is anticipated Q3 2027 and the sunset clause runs 5.5 years from contract. Population and the rented share come from the Queensland Government Statistician's Office resident population estimates (2025 preliminary) and the 2021 Census. The catchment statement is the sales presentation's wording and has not been verified on EdMap. This project has no rental appraisal, so no yield has been calculated.
