Scape Australia Revamps Student Housing Vehicle to Create $3.8B Open-Ended Fund

Australia’s biggest owner-operator of student housing, Scape, has converted its flagship purpose-built student accommodation vehicle into a A$6 billion ($3.8 billion) open-ended core fund with a 16,000-bed portfolio across 33 operational assets.

As part of the conversion, the fund has acquired a A$1.9 billion portfolio of eight assets on the back of a fresh A$1 billion equity commitment from current investors APG, Bouwinvest, National Pension Service of Korea and Ivanhoe Cambridge, plus newcomer UBS Asset Management.

The change was approved unanimously by the investors and will provide efficient and immediate access to a diversified portfolio of high-quality PBSA assets, according to Scape Australia co-founder and CEO Stephen Gaitanos.

“The growth opportunity and requirement for affordable and smart housing solutions is unparalleled and we look forward to continuing our successful track record, whilst expanding our high-profile investor group,” Gaitanos said Thursday in a release.

Cutting Exit Risk

The Scape Core Fund’s new structure will allow investors to benefit from the strong cash flow and growth potential of PBSA assets, while removing the risk of forced exit and enabling the fund to continue to attract capital and grow, Sydney-based Scape said.

The open-ended fund will have access to Scape’s 4,000-bed development pipeline and other market opportunities. The transaction portfolio of eight assets, presently valued at A$1.6 billion, comprises six Scape projects and two development sites, with an expected A$300 million in capital required to complete the two future projects.

The transaction portfolio’s top asset, Scape Franklin in Melbourne, is billed as the world’s largest mixed PBSA and education property at 50,000 square metres (538,196 square feet) of gross floor area. In a first for Australia, the building at 97-99 Franklin Street is a shared space between Scape’s 940-bed facility and RMIT University, a technology institute.

News of the fund conversion follows last week’s announcement of a fresh commitment to Scape from South Korea’s NPS for a suite of living sector investment strategies. About 25 percent of the pension manager’s A$700 million equity commitment is understood to have been allocated to the Scape Core Fund, with proceeds going towards the A$1.9 billion portfolio buy.

Vertically Integrated Platform

While the fund’s leverage is capped at 40 percent, A$900 million in senior debt was committed by the vehicle’s existing bank syndicate as part of a refinancing completed last August that was three times oversubscribed.

The same month, Scape and ASX-listed construction giant Lendlease received final approval for a A$1.7 billion transformation of Queen Victoria Market in central Melbourne. The mixed-use project, known as Gurrowa Place, is to feature 1,100 beds for university students and 560 build-to-rent apartments — including about 80 affordable homes.

Founded in 2014 by Gaitanos and executive chairman Craig Carracher, Scape Australia today is the largest residential-for-rent owner and operator in Australia, managing more than 38 operational assets (19,000 beds) with a further eight PBSA and urban living assets (4,000 beds) under development.

“Through our vertically integrated platform we manage every aspect of the asset creation process and ongoing operations — a platform designed to ensure the communities we create and manage provide exceptional outcomes for both our residents and investors,” Carracher said. “Our platform is further supported by exclusive and long-term partnerships with leading universities and educational providers.”