The popularity of green roofs in the real estate market is skyrocketing.
While this may seem like a recent trend, rooftop gardens have existed for a long time. The practise goes back to the ancient ziggurats of Mesopotamia where the first rooftop gardens ere planted between 4,000 and 600 B.C.
The practice picked up in the U.S. in the 1890s, where it quickly spread to other countries such as Australia. Back then, rooftop gardens were a luxury only reserved for the rich.
However, many decades later, real estate investors are leveraging on the practice to attract more buyers—the idea of using rooftop gardens to lure real estate buyers first launched in Germany in the 1970s. Developers used rooftop systems in a bid to increase the value of properties and promote sustainable living
However, while this practice has proved to be an effective way to sell more properties, only a few developments have mastered it – Lily Garden in Richmond is one of them.
A Dream Luxury Home
Right off the bat, Lily Garden is a dream home for most residents in Richmond.
Artisan Architects designed the apartment complex to depict the perfect blend of luxury and simplicity. There’s no doubt that this is one of the most loved apartment complexes, not only in Richmond but also in Melbourne at large.
Richmond’s strategic location and culture is a strong enough selling point. Ask any resident about Richmond, and you’ll probably hear something along the lines of the best parks, gardens, shopping, and well, restaurants. This description is not far from the truth. This suburb is less than 5km from Melbourne CBD and a mere 3km from the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
What’s more, the Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre is only a 3-minute walk away. This location makes Richmond an ideal place to live. Most real estate businesses rarely go beyond developing attractive properties, but Lily Garden has surpassed them all.
The property is not only leveraging on its luxury status and strategic location to attract buyers. It is now heavily investing in rooftop gardens with the hope that the move will pay off in the long run.
To understand how betting on green roofs helps Lily Garden to attract high-end buyers, you first need to understand their benefits.
The Benefits of Roof Gardens
Rooftop gardens have innumerable environmental and recreational benefits. Some notable ones include:
- Providing a serene environment for relaxation
- An efficient way to capture and harvest rainwater
- An excellent method to grow nutritious food in the city
- Controlling stormwater
- Creating a water catchment area
- Reducing ambient temperature and controlling CO2 emissions
- Creating a natural habitat for wildlife
- Producing healthy oxygen
Rooftop Gardens – The Perfect Consumer Trap
Most studies have shown that the two main reasons why buyers prefer properties with rooftop gardens are:
- Recreation and relaxation
- Sustainable living through crop farming
Relaxation, in this sense, is a bit ambiguous because it can mean a lot of things. However, crop farming has been the main selling point for most properties with rooftop gardens. This widespread consumer behaviour has led to an influx of green roofs and urban greenhouses in many cities
Properties such as Lily Garden are taking note and now banking heavily on rooftop gardens in a bid to attract more buyers. One of the reasons why most people obsess over green roofs is because apart from growing their food, they also get to sell some of it.
Several studies have shown that people are more likely to buy vegetables and other foodstuffs from the locals than the big grocery stores. This trend is because local-grown food is perceived to be fresher and healthier than those obtained from non-organic supermarkets.
The practise has become so pervasive that mainstream businesses like hotels have jumped into the ‘rooftop gardens bandwagon’.
Baseball fields like the AT&T Park in San Francisco, USA, have also hopped aboard. It is safe to say, judging from this trend, that Lily Garden has made yet another prudent business decision. The inclusion of rooftop gardens will naturally draw buyers, increasing customer competition, which in turn increases the value of the properties in the development.
Final Thoughts
Although rooftop gardens did not start yesterday, it is clear that they still make pretty strong selling points for real estate properties. Therefore, Lily Garden’s bet on green roofs might pay off handsomely in the long run.