Alkina Street, Kenmore, QLD 4069

4.7(2 reviews)

Ranked 1st best street by locals in Kenmore, QLD

Great for

  • Childcare
  • Clean & green
  • Cost of living
  • Eating out
  • Gym and fitness

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Reviews of Alkina Street, Kenmore

"Well located, being actively gentrified"

Let me give you the inside scoop from a resident.


This is a quiet street, despite being so close to the shopping centers etc. Big pluses here are that everything is walkable. There are numerous restaurants, a gym, video store, massive pet store and a medical center opposite Alkina street, along Marshall Lane. Wongabel street houses a post office, hairdressers, computer store, more places to eat, coffee shops, newsagent, bakery. Of course the much larger shopping center on the opposite side of moggill road (maybe 300 meters away) has a very wide range of offerings too, including Macdonalds, Nandos etc if you are that way inclined.

At the other end of Alkina street lie acres of parkland and the biggest sports facilities in the area, including floodlights for night activities. It's a great place to walk the dogs (an off leash area is included), stroll by the creek, jog, kick a ball around, join a local footy club, or just to meet other friendly locals.

Alkina street represents the crest of the hill, dropping sharply towards Ijong street in one direction and more gradually towards Moggill Road in the other. This means all the benefits of elevation – views, excellent breezes, etc – notably towards the center of the street, where the most expensive houses are.

Alkina street is largely floodproof due to this elevation. An old waterway used to run along the valley where Ijong street presently is, and cubberla creek runs through the park. This means you can expect flooding at the park end of the street, in those 1 in a 50 year flood surges - like the one that happened in '08. Not an issue for Alkina street residents generally, but if buying near the park it would be worth checking the ’74 levels (which I have not done prior to writing this).

ADSL is provided from the Chapel Hill exchange. We are close enough to get really good speed here (I get about 10,000k down on an ADSL 2+ line). Mobile reception is strong.

Be aware that termites are very active in Kenmore generally, and probably 2 out of 3 houses in this street would have had some issues with them, if the housing stock is from the 60s or 70s. You will need to keep your pest inspections and controls up to scratch – but again, this is an issue that extends through very large sections of Kenmore.

A building inspection would also be called for, as many houses in this street have had garage conversions, rear extensions, and so on in the last 50 years and quality varies.

There is great bird life in and around this street - very large flocks of cockatoos, rosellas, etc. Please consider planting bird-friendly native trees, keeping cats indoors, and being nice to the local bush turkey families.

At night, you can expect to hear some (what I would classify as minor and intermittent) noise from Marshall Lane – depending on how close your house is to it. Marshall Lane may carry increased traffic should the bypass go ahead, but it would also mean that Alkina street would be a hop, skip, and jump away from an arterial leading directly into Toowong (and all the way to Kelvin Grove once the airport linkage tunnel is built in 2015). In other respects, Alkina street should not otherwise be impacted by the bypass at all, as the bypass itself is far enough away to mean that light, noise and so on won’t be an issue here. On balance, it might even become quieter.

Some of the houses in this street are much, much larger than their street profile would suggest.

As at the time of posting, no less than 5 houses in the street are undergoing significant renovation such as complete recladding, large extensions, houses being raised to build under, and so on. A lot of capital is being deployed here. Due to its excellent position, every new sale in the street seems to break existing sale records, with recent asking prices moving through the 600s and 700s and into the mid 800 thousand dollar bracket. Let's see if they achieve it, eh?

Medium term capital growth prospects here are good, as the 'Kenmore East' area remains undervalued compared with Indooroopilly / Chapel Hill / Fig Tree Pocket on one side, and Kenmore Hills / Brookfield on the other. This depends on the broader market, of course.

We rent rooms in our house to university students, and are always overwhelmed with enquiries when a vacancy pops up. I think that this is because we are well connected here, with direct bus connections to both UQ and the city right at the bottom of Alkina street. Rooms here rent for maybe $20 a less than a similar place in St Lucia, Toowong, Milton, Indooroopilly, etc – and that $20 makes a difference to a student renter. For the investor a cost/return calculation will show that the comparative cheapness of housing stock here to the other suburbs listed means rental ROI is much higher. This excludes issues like capital gain, etc, where St Lucia tends to outperform.

The recent development of the 'Kenmore Villas' at the bottom of the street (where townhouses seem to be starting from the low 600k mark as at October 2010), and the redevelopment of the old Sizzlers / KFC site (which for years remained an eyesore) are having trickle-up effects in the overall tenor of the street, and in property prices similarly.

Although I am an experienced property investor and long term resident of the street (with no plans to move elsewhere), these opinions do not constitute advice and you should thoroughly do your own research into any matter raised herein.

Other than that, if you move here – welcome! We’re a friendly bunch. Drop me an email and expect a cake or something on arrival to your new home.

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RS1

Lest anybody think it is totally idyllic in Alkina Street, be aware that you are just as likely to have noise issues in this street as in most suburbs of Brisbane. Currently there is, for example, one resident of Alkina Street who is more and more frequently imposing his very loud music on half the street for hours at a time. You would not want to spend your 7 or 8 hundred thousand dollars buying a house and then find that you're living close to this particular pest. People in the street tend to be no more and no less considerate than people virtually anywhere.

paladin

Gosh, that's a shame. We are down on the side of Alkina street at the Marshall Lane end and don't hear this. Neighbours are all quite delightful. Is this up the park end of the street?

RS1

If you are referring to the loud music, yes, that is on the other side of the hill from where you live. But I was making a more general point that Alkina Street isn't any quieter than most streets in Brisbane, because there is always the usual suburban noise of power tools, motor mowers, barking dogs, squealing kiddies and so on. It's normal, but if anybody is hoping for a nice quiet day at home if they live in Alkina Street, forget it, it just doesn't happen, whether during the week or on weekends. Some days are worse than others, of course - you know what it's like: A has a go at something with his power tools for a couple of hours, then when he stops B starts up his mower for a while, he stops and C just has to get his incredibly loud leaf-blower on the go for a while, then D has some vacuuming to do with a very loud high-pitched vacuum-cleaner. And we cop noise from nearby streets as well, for example from the house on the corner of Akuna Street and Wongabel Street where the occupants use some ridiculously loud machines that even impact upon some houses in Alkina Street. And there's the noise from the playing-fields some nights of the week. I'm not saying that any of this is worse than normal, but the noise is there and I wouldn't want anybody who wants to buy a house in Alkina Street to think that it's an amazingly quiet street - it just isn't.

paladin

Fair enough. I'd agree with that assessment. There is a lot of renovating going on. My neighbor has been renovating slowly for years so often has power tools going and a yapping dog to boot. So yep. Agreed. It's not quiet in the same way as acerage at Brookfield, for example. Thanks for the clarification!

maudf

As a permanent resident of Alkina Street, Kenmore, for 50 years I want to stress that the residential owners are good neighbours, the main trouble comes from rental premises, tenants who do not respect the quiet family atmosphere. Alkina Street homes were built in mid 1960, many by owner/builders, so other dates are incorrect. Trees, which new owners are quick to chop down, were all planted for a reason, apart from ecology, they shaded houses prior to the introduction of home air-conditioning. Renovations should take into consideration asbestos, old pipes, inadequate electrical wiring and steep driveways paved for smaller cars. Future owners should respect the character of Alkina Street, Kenmore, and strive to maintain its unique place in Brisbane's western suburbs.

The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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"Alkina St ... Fantastic Position!"

What a fantastic position Alkina Street is. A walk away from everything you would need. I spoke to many of the residents on this street today. Apparently forty years ago this street was fairly well set up with many more established houses than in the streets around it. Whilst door knocking I spoke to a number of young adults renting which would make sense due to such a great location.

Kenmore .... I Call it Home!

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maudf

Homes in Alkina Street, Kenmore, and the surrounding area were built in 1960s, but Wongabel Street in Kenmore was established first. Later came Ijong Street which paved over a small creek, and by 1970 the whole area of Kenmore East was well established.

The opinions expressed within this review are those of the individual and not those of Homely.com.au.
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