South Carolina-based real estate giant Greystar has acquired two more sites for Build to Rent (BTR) developments in the inner Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Kensington.
The 2,556sqm Fitzroy site on Johnston Street joins Greystar’s portfolio along with a site on Macaulay Road, Kensington, acquired earlier this year; the Kensington project is planned to host more than 400 BTR apartments valued at $350 million.
By DCM’s calculations, a village resident paying a 30% DMF will come out with the same amount of money after 10 years as a person who enters BTR; this poses a challenge to retirement villages, as baby boomers may choose intergenerational BTR developments over traditional RVs.
Chris Key, Managing Director – Australia at Greystar (pictured), said the firm had taken advantage of a “rare opportunity” to acquire a prime BTR site in the heart of Fitzroy.
“It is a highly sought-after neighbourhood for many reasons and until now has remained untapped by the BTR market. It is undoubtedly a suburb that is full of some of the city’s best retail stores, galleries, bars, pubs, restaurants, and cafés – and we look forward to being able to extend the lifestyle options in the area with an exciting rental proposition for future residents.
“Similarly, we are hoping to make an impact to housing diversification and choice in Kensington via our Macaulay Road project. Working closely with our neighbours in the precinct, we are striving to optimise the interface between our properties to create excellence in placemaking and deliver over 400 residential apartments that are thoughtfully interwoven into the local area,” he said.
Earlier this year, Greystar picked developer Icon to build its $500m BTR project in Fishermans Bend, Port Melbourne.
