Macquarie Real Estate Partners (MREP) has established Millbray, an Australian land lease communities group that has already assembled sites with a gross development value of A$1.7bn (€956m).
Millbray, which will initially focus on the greenfield development of new communities, has so far secured more than 2,000 home sites across Queensland and New South Wales.
Construction for Millbray’s first development, Ashcroft, in Flagstone, Queensland is currently underway and offers 293 homes, MREP said.
James Kemp, head of real Estate Asia Pacific, Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), said: “Millbray is our latest investment in an Australian living platform and our eleventh investment in living platforms globally.
“MAM has extensive experience investing in the Australian living sector. We continue to have high conviction in this sector, including in the sub-sector focused on the aging population.”
Justin Ayre, managing director, Macquarie Asset Management, told IPE Real Assets: “Today, less than 2% of the 55-plus year population lives in a land lease community. In many markets, the size of the market has been limited by the availability of the product, with the sector having grown out of South East Queensland and still far less prevalent in other states.
“The over 55-year population is growing at 170,000 per annum so we see significant potential for the land lease communities market to continue growing strongly in the medium term.”
Ayre said Millbray was targeting to secure a portfolio of at least 5,000 home sites in top-tier markets for land lease communities.
“We are less focused on scale, as it is not a sector where scale has significant benefits for the residents. Instead, the strategy for Millbray is most focused on ensuring that we are developing communities in markets where there is strong existing demand from over 50s or in destination markets that can attract residents from a broader catchment area.”
To read the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
