225 King Street will soon be hit by a wrecking ball (Image: Google)
Singaporean builder SLB Development is making its first foray into student accommodation in Australia with a development of more than 400 units in central Melbourne.
Last month, SLB submitted a planning application to the City of Melbourne to demolish the 12-storey office block at 225 King Street in Flagstaff, which it acquired in June 2022 for A$35.5 million ($25.5 million at the time).
SLB executive director and chief executive officer Matthew Ong told Mintyandi on Wednesday: “This strategy is in line with our focus on various life sectors.” Singaporean developer Lian Beng Group.
According to official documents cited by local news sites, SLB’s plans, which must be approved by city council, will include a 24-story building that will house 409 studio units and 11 two-bedroom apartments, as well as common areas and retail. A building is to be constructed. urban developer.
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The student housing project is designed to provide 1,359 square meters (14,628 square feet) of common space, including study areas, lounges, meeting rooms, games rooms and a gym, with 377 square meters dedicated to retail, Ong said. It is said that there are also.
Matthew Ong, SLB Development CEO
Ong said the company, a development arm of Lian Beng Group, has been exploring the private student accommodation (PBSA) sector domestically and internationally in recent years, but finding “the right location” has been difficult.
Located near the corner of King Street and Lonsdale Street, 225 King Street was previously part of the University of Victoria campus until the state university sold it as vacant land to SLB a year and a half ago.
The project will include Victoria University’s 32-storey VU City Tower campus at 370 Little Lonsdale Street, which opens in 2022, and the law campus at 295 Queen Street, across the road. Located within 10 minutes walk.
The project is being designed by Dublin-based Plus Architecture, which also drafted student housing projects for Scape Australia, the country’s largest university housing provider.
The King Street student housing project will be completed in 2021 by SLB, together with Hong Kong’s Baring Private Equity Asia (now part of EQT Exeter) and local firm Futuro Capital, to develop the Tivoli Arcade complex at 235 Bourke Street. This will take place after the company completes the integration of its office and retail facilities.
Back home, SLB posted a net loss of S$4.5 million ($3.4 million) for the six months ended Nov 30, from a net profit of S$8.1 million a year earlier, according to its latest financial report. It turned to
The company said higher borrowing costs and lower contributions from its development business weighed on earnings, as completed residential projects in Singapore are already nearly sold out.
demand exceeds supply
Singapore businesses and investors have increased their bets on Australia’s purpose-built student accommodation market since pandemic border restrictions were lifted in 2022 and international students returned home due to a lack of available beds.
In January last year, Centurion Properties, the controlling shareholder of SGX-listed Centurion Corp, purchased 732 units at 17-21 Lachlan Avenue and 163 Herring Road in Sydney’s Macquarie Park for an estimated price of A$132.17 million. proposed to build a student accommodation complex.
In March 2022, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC acquired a 49.9% stake in its portfolio of seven Australian PBSA assets across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra from SGX-listed We Har Holdings. It was purchased for A$67.86 million.
Official government records show Australia’s international student enrollment rose 33% year-on-year to 940,310 in the 10 months to October 2023, 3% higher than pre-pandemic enrollments in 2019. Ta.
According to CBRE, it is estimated that 8,000 PBSA rooms will be completed across Australia between 2023 and 2026, which would increase the country’s existing PBSA supply by 7%, but the consultancy said: The project pipeline is expected to fall short of demand.
“Uptake is extremely low in Australia, with only one PBSA bed for every 16 students,” CBRE said in an August report.