AustralianSuper is backing a residential development in Sydney worth AUD400m (€251m), IPE Real Assets understands.

The AUD140bn AustralianSuper is expected to contribute a debt component of at least AUD200m to Golden Age Group’s Park One project, in the deal described as “the largest single” construction financing transaction in Australia this year.

But when approached to confirm this, Wayne Lasky, managing director of MaxCap Group, which sourced the project and is partnering the fund in providing the loan, declined to comment.

He said, however, that institutional capital was beginning to flow into the Australian CRE debt market, which offered strong risk-adjusted returns.

“This is an investment strategy that is increasingly carving out its place as a stand-alone asset class in institutional portfolios,” he said.

Golden Age is a private developer with a portfolio of hospitality assets and completed mixed-use developments in Melbourne and Sydney.

Jeff Xu, founder and managing director of Golden Age, said: “We recently successfully completed our Waterloo project in Sydney, and have repaid the same super fund.”

Xu said he was “delighted” that the super fund and MaxCap had continued their commitment to his company for his latest project, Park One, in Macquarie Park, a growth region in Sydney’s north.

Launched two years ago, Park One is a mixed-use development comprising 412 residential apartments, a retail component, a rooftop terrace and an integrated private park. 90% of the apartments have been pre-sold.

This is the 11th project that MaxCap has arranged funding for Golden Age. The previous projects were located in Melbourne and Sydney, including the Waterloo project.