APG, Scape, Greystar and More Join Mingtiandi Residential Forum This Week

Speakers from Greystar, Scape and Colliers will join a panel on the evolution of Australia’s rental housing market this week as Mingtiandi’s APAC Residential Forum continues on our MTD TV video platform.

The panel at 10:00 AM Hong Kong time on Tuesday is one of three sessions taking place this week in the forum, which is sponsored by Yardi, as Mingtiandi takes a look at the forces drawing investors to opportunities in student housing, build-to-rent apartments and senior-favoured land lease communities in Australia.

The forum will continue at 9:30 AM Hong Kong time on Wednesday with a spotlight interview with Greenfort Capital partner Adam Vaggelas and Gaw Capital Partners president and managing principal Kenneth Gaw after the two companies expanded their land lease housing joint venture earlier this year.

On Thursday the forum continues with a build to rent focused panel featured speakers from APG Asset Management, Macquarie-backed Local: Residential, Novus and high-end rental platform Home. You may register to view the programmes free of charge by registering at the link above.

PBSA, BTR and an Expanding Market

In Tuesday’s panel discussion, Mingtiandi will welcome Scape fund manager Ben Taylor; Matt Woodland, managing director for investment management at Greystar, who heads the company’s Australia business and Robert Papaleo, national director and head of living at Colliers Australia.

With Australia’s housing market being transformed by the country’s growth and urbanisation at the same time that the country faces a shortage of homes, rental residential strategies, including mainstream apartments and student housing are playing a growing role Down Under.

The growth of the student housing sector recently enabled Scape to set up its first open-ended, core fund, a $3.8 billion vehicle with 33 assets.

Greystar, which entered Australia’s build to rent market more than five years ago, is in the process of closing on a $1 billion student accommodation acquisition which will give it seven university-linked properties in the country.

The panelists will explore the forces driving demand for more housing options in Australia, policy challenges in the sector and potential returns for investors.

Australian Rental Housing Scales Up

The Thursday discussion will include Sarah Winbur, senior portfolio manager for real estate with APG Asset Management; Dan McLennan, founder and co-CEO with Macquarie Asset Management-backed Local: Residential; Adam Hirst, co-founder and CEO of Novus and Christian Grahame, head of Australian build to rent pioneer, Home.

With Local:Residential reported last week to have taken over management of a Gold Coast apartment project from UBS, just a few weeks after announcing a $168 million project in Melbourne, Australia’s build to rent sector can be seen rapidly ramping up, with many analysts looking at potential industry consolidation.

APG, which counts the living sector among its favoured themes globally, has backed both Scape and Greystar in Australia as it looks to the potential growth of rental housing in a country facing growing affordability challenges.

Novus late last year opened its flagship Novus on Sturt project in Melbourne in a partnership with M&G Real Estate and Home has recently opened its third build to rent project in Melbourne.

This week’ sessions follow a panel on the Japan rental residential market with Isabella Lo, managing director, principal for investments and head of Japan for Gaw Capital Partners; Chedli Boujellabia, managing partner and CEO of Alyssa Partners and David Cheong, managing director and co-head of acquisitions for Asia Real Estate at KKR.

A recap of that Japan panel may be seen here.