Macquarie Asset Management’s UK BTR platform Goodstone Living has announced two new senior hires with the appointment of Lee Hawkins as construction director and Lizzie Pennant as General Counsel.
The announcement follows Goodstone’s acquisition of a 338-home site in Edinburgh, one of Scotland’s largest ever build-to-rent projects.
Formerly a Project Management Director at Greystar Real Estate Partners, Hawkins will lead the design, procurement and delivery activities of Goodstone Living’s development pipeline.
Hawkins has worked in real estate for over 25 years, holding senior roles at Westfield Group, Mace Group, Sir Robert McAlpine and Greystar Real Estate Partners, where he oversaw the construction of 3,000 build-to-rent units.
Lizzie Pennant, who has over a decade of legal experience, will be responsible for strategic advice and delivering risk management procedures at Goodstone Living. She will advise the Board on all governance, compliance and reputational issues.
She joins Goodstone Living after half a decade at Greystar Real Estate Partners, where she was senior legal director. Pennant played a key role in growing the international real estate developer and manager’s European business and previously held legal roles at Jones Day and Goldman Sachs (secondment).
Goodstone Living has acquired two sites since it was launched in July 2021. In February this year, Goodstone announced the acquisition of its first site in Scotland, a 338 unit scheme set across 2.5 acres and four 10-14 storey buildings on the waterfront in Leith, Edinburgh.
The Macquarie-backed BTR platform announced its first acquisition in July 2021, with its build-to-rent product at Digbeth in central Birmingham. The four-acre consented scheme is expected to accommodate over 500 new build-to-rent homes and the largest private garden in central Birmingham.
Seeking to develop build-to-rent assets in urban locations across the country, Goodstone Living is headed up by industry heavyweights Darryl Flay and Martin Bellinger. The pair are best known for pioneering the sector in the UK through the creation of Essential Living in 2012, the country’s first dedicated private build-to-rent developer-operator.
