Mirvac, Living Company Win 1,400-Home Sydney Project Including 26-Storey PBSA Tower

ASX-listed Mirvac is set to take on a 1,400-home project on the southern side of Sydney harbour, which includes a 26-storey student housing tower to be developed by The Living Company, following a contract signing with the New South Wales government on Saturday.

The deal makes Mirvac the lead developer for a project to redevelop Sydney’s former Sydney Fish Market on Blackwattle Bay into a new waterfront precinct which will create new commercial space and public amenities in addition to the housing projects to be built along a new shorefront promenade.

The Living Company has partnered with Mirvac to take on one of the sites within the precinct which it will develop into an expected 600 beds of student accommodation under its Scape division, with the New South Wales government praising the opportunity to reimagine the location.

“This is an exciting new chapter in the transformation of Blackwattle Bay, turning this once neglected industrial harbourfront into a vibrant, accessible waterfront and opening up the next stretch of Sydney Harbour’s foreshore,” Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said in a statement.

Fish Market Reimagined

Saturday’s contract signing comes after Mirvac had been selected in December as the preferred developer for the former fish market site, which is part of a broader urban renewal plan for Blackwattle Bay. 

The overall redevelopment of the area is already underway, with Mirvac and The Living Company expecting to commence work on their projects on the 3.6 hectare (8.9 acre) fish market site next year.

Mirvac Group CEO and managing director Campbell Hanan, at the time that the company was selected as preferred developer, had pointed to the benefits of securing the waterfront site and to working with Infrastructure NSW, the government agency leading redevelopment of Blackwattle Bay.

“Blackwattle Bay is a significant urban renewal project and represents one of the last undeveloped parcels along the Sydney Harbour foreshore. We are thrilled to deliver this project in partnership with Infrastructure NSW, where we will rejuvenate an iconic harbourside location,” Hanan said in a statement.

Student Housing Portfolio Expands

For its part in the redevelopment project, The Living Company will be taking a ground lease with Infrastructure NSW and will develop the site within the Mirvac development master plan as student accommodation to be operated under its Scape brand.

The company sees the project as an opportunity to develop student accommodation as part of a community built around retail and leisure facilities as well as public spaces that include a new boardwalk which will form the final link in the 15-kilometre Harbour Walk which will connect Woolloomooloo near Potts Point to Rozelle Bay toward the west. 

Planning and design work for the Scape tower is expected to commence immediately, with development timeframes aligned with the NSW Government’s broader Blackwattle Bay delivery program, The Living Company said in a statement. 

“Blackwattle Bay represents an ideal opportunity for us to contribute meaningfully to Sydney’s future and really deliver on our promise to create and shape communities where people truly belong,” The Living Company’s founder and Joint CEO Stephen Gaitanos said. “Our vision is to deliver a high-amenity, globally competitive student-living community that supports the city’s education sector and enhances the vibrancy of this extraordinary waterfront precinct.”

After establishing Scape as Australia’s largest owner and operator of student accommodation, co-founders Gaitanos and Craig Carracher have transformed the company into a developer, operator and fund manager targeting the broader living sector, including senior living and mainstream rental apartments. 

With over A$17 billion under management, the company’s portfolio of 117 properties has more than 36,000 apartments.

During February The Living Company won development approval from the New South Wales government for Marrickville Timberyards, a 1,166-unit development set to become one of Australia’s largest build-to-rent projects upon completion.

In June of last year The Living Company locked in a deal to acquire senior living operator Aveo from Brookfield Asset Management for A$3.85 billion, giving it immediate scale in a sector where it is expected to continue to expand.