Australia: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and real estate investment manager Hines have acquired two BTR properties in Brisbane, comprising 354 units.
The sites were acquired from ADCO Group for an undisclosed sum. The first property, located at 28 Robertson Street in Fortitude Valley, is an 89-unit building completed in October 2021. The second, at 13-17 Cordelia Street in South Brisbane, is a 265-unit building that’s expected to be completed next year.
Hines will provide asset management services for both properties. Arklife, a BTR platform co-owned by ADCO, has been managing the properties and will continue in its role.
Ontario Teachers’ head of Asia-Pacific real estate Jun Ando said: “These assets provide us with a strategic entry point into Brisbane and, working alongside Hines and Arklife, we will look to offer a compelling value proposition for tenants and create value for our stakeholders through active asset management.”
Hines country head of Australia and New Zealand David Warneford said: “Hines sees tremendous potential in Australian BTR for both investors and residents. It’s poised to offer stable cash flow and income growth while helping to meet the demand for quality rental housing in the country.”
CBRE, which was appointed by ADCO to find a buyer for the two assets, ran an international sales process on their behalf. CBRE head of international capital and capital advisors for the Pacific and Southeast Asia Stuart McCann said: “It highlights the growing confidence amongst global investors to deploy large equity tickets back into the real estate markets as interest rates look to compress and markets benefit from very strong rental growth dynamics as supply remains a challenge,” he said.
Hines and Cadillac Fairview, the real estate arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, formed a partnership in November 2022 to develop and acquire up to AUD $1.5 billion of assets in the Australian BTR sector.