Australian property developer Samma Property has joined forces with impact investment firm, Brightlight, to raise A$750m (€468m) for a new private rented sector platform.
The companies said they have created a “designed-to-rent” (DTR) real estate investment venture which has been seeded with a portfolio of four “shovel ready” Melbourne-based projects. The first development, planned for 65 Haig Street in Southbank, is expected to begin next year.
The partnership intends to create 1412 apartments across the four developments from 2022 to 2025. By the end of 2028, the partnership expects to have a A$1.7bn portfolio of 11 assets.
The companies said the DTR concept, which is an evolution from the build-to-rent trend, “incorporates design features in each building to promote community connection and high quality built outcomes, including the highest level environmental standards, to facilitate shared residential pride in the developments”.
Simon Abdelmalak a director at Samma Property, said: “The company identified a noticeable gap in the build-to-rent space to create something different and is proud to have formed a partnership with Brightlight to bring DTR to life.
“Unlike many of the build-to-rent developments, our partnership with Brightlight has four shovel ready projects ready to progress.”
Matthew Zschech, chief strategy officer at Brightlight, said: “Undertaking a designed-to-rent platform like this ensures we are seeing financial-first outcomes for investors while achieving social change.
“We are focusing on larger pools of capital and onboarding these asset classes to incorporate both societal and environmental impact, at scale.”
Brightlight’s head of investment management and co-portfolio manager Simba Marekera said: “As an evolution of the build-to-rent concept, our new designed-to-rent platform’s enhanced community and wellness focus will lead to lower vacancy rates, higher loyalty and length of terms for tenancy, resulting in stronger performance returns for investors.”
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