Listed diversified property company Mirvac Group has launched an AUD1bn (€632.9m) Australian build-to-rent multifamily vehicle.
Mirvac has set up Australian Build-to-Rent Club (ABTRC) and has signed up Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) as a cornerstone investor. The specialist clean energy financier has invested AUD50m for a 30% stake in the club’s first close.
Industry sources told IPE Real Assets that the CEFC investment is only for the seed asset, a 258-apartment block in Sydney’s West. They said Mirvac s ambition is to see ABTRC become a billion-dollar vehicle.
Mirvac sources told IPE Real Assets that Mirvac is currently in discussion with potential investors, including global and Australian pension funds, to participate in the club.
Mirvac’s CEO & managing director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, said, “Renting has become a lifestyle choice for a much wider group of people who want to be closer to work and other lifestyle services and amenity.
“We believe build-to-rent can provide renters with better choice, better quality and better security of tenure,” she said.
“Recent reforms from the Federal Government, as well as the work of state government working groups, have demonstrated strong support and momentum for the build-to-rent sector.”
Lloyd-Hurwitz said build-to-rent will provide a new asset class with secure revenue streams.
Mirvac will seed the club with its first purpose-built build-to-rent apartment block, Indigo, which is being developed as part of Mirvac’s Pavilions project at Sydney Olympic Park.
CEFC CEO, Ian Learmonth, said: “Our investment in ABTRC is about giving tenants the same access to clean energy technologies as homeowners.
“It’s an immediate way to lower tenant energy costs, as well as tackle greenhouse gas emissions in Australia’s rental housing portfolio.”
Earlier this year, CEFC committed up to AUD90m in debt finance towards three of Mirvac’s proposed master-planned communities in Brisbane and Sydney.
