Cedar Pacific Completes Premium Student Accommodation Towers in Melbourne through JV Investment with CBRE Investment Management
27 February 2023
MELBOURNE – February 27, 2023 – The Cedar Pacific Accommodation Trust has completed two highly sustainable, premium student accommodation towers in the heart of the Melbourne CBD.
UniLodge Melbourne Central is a 46-floor, 714 bed purpose-built student accommodation building located in the centre of Melbourne at 293 – 303 Latrobe Street, a short walk to RMIT University. UniLodge Melbourne CBD houses 652 self-contained studio and multi-share apartments, over 37 floors within easy walking distance to RMIT and Victoria University City Campus.
The convenient urban locations of both properties combined with innovative amenities provide students the opportunity to enhance their educational experience whilst being part of a vibrant community. Bespoke cinemas, state-of-the-art gyms, social areas, studies and sky lounges work together to create a unique, enviable lifestyle for tertiary students.
The UniLodge Melbourne CBD project on Wills Street presented a unique opportunity to restore the historical features of the original Victorian Printing Works building by retaining the heritage façade, which features prominently in the common areas.
Both towers have been designed and constructed to achieve 5 Star Green Star (Design and As-Built) ratings and will pursue Climate Active certification to reflect carbon neutrality targets from the first day of operations.
“Cedar Pacific’s commitment to developing sustainable buildings reflects our core values and the expectations of various stakeholders including investors and the consciously minded student cohorts” said Zhinus Etehad, Director of Legal, Compliance & ESG.
CBRE Investment Management’s Indirect Private Real Estate Strategies team invested in both developments as part of a joint venture with Cedar Pacific that now has three PBSA assets in operation and two in development. Debt was provided by Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Group. NettletonTribe was the architect and Icon was the builder of the project.
“Cedar Pacific will work closely with the major Universities located in Melbourne to ensure their students, who will occupy these buildings have the best living experience possible while they pursue their education goals. They will experience best practice physical amenity supported by pastoral care of the highest standard” said Paul Fell, COO Cedar Pacific
As international students continue to return, UniLodge Melbourne Central and UniLodge Melbourne CBD are primed to capture this returning market for Semester 1. UniLodge, Australia’s largest manager of student accommodation, will manage both properties.
Cedar Pacific, a leading investment manager in the living sector, is an experienced developer and investment manager of purpose-built student accommodation assets with 10,200 beds in its portfolio across Australia and New Zealand, 1,400 of which are in the development phase. Building on its PBSA experience, Cedar Pacific has begun expanding its offering into the BTR sector.