M&G pays $215m for Melbourne BTR tower
M&G Real Estate has bought a new Melbourne build-to-rent investment for $215 million – or $1m per apartment.
The Novus on Bowen, at 2 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne, near the South Melbourne border and Albert Park Lake, contains 215 apartments across 17 floors.
The gross floor area is 26,000 square metres.
It is the first Australian asset of the type for its Asia Living Property Strategy, with now holds a portfolio worth c$680m across multifamily housing, purpose-built student accommodation, land lease communities and senior living.
Novus on Bowen
Novus on Bowen includes one, two and three-bedroom apartments, co-working facilities, a gym, swimming pool, sauna and cold plunge.
It is about 150 metres from Anzac Station.
The deal averages each unit to $1m.
M&G said the acquisition builds on its existing develop-to-core partnership with Australian developer Novus, combining the investor’s capital with the developer’s delivery and operating capabilities.
Novus paid $42.4m in 2023 for the 1864 sqm site which made way for the project.
It then redesigned a build-to-sell scheme for build-to-rent. Rothelowman was the architect.
The City of Port Phillip approved it in February 2024 (continues below).
M&G grows portfolio
M&G first committed $450m to its partnership with Novus in April 2022, taking a 95 per cent stake in the Novus Build-to-Rent Trust, seeded with the 173-apartment Novus on Sturt in Southbank.
The partners opened Novus on Sturt in November 2024 and have continued expanding their development pipeline.
Novus was established in 2021 by former Mirvac executives Adam Hirst and Jason Goldsworthy, with backing from David Southon’s Aliro Group.
It plans to hold some 10,000 dwellings.
Last year realestatesource.com.au reported it teamed with Japan’s Kanden Realty & Developments to buy a West Melbourne site for a BTR project.
Novus on Bowen is now for lease with one-bedroom asking rents at $775 a week. Two bedders start at $920.
M&G Real Estate manages more than US$9 billion across living-sector strategies globally.
The Bowen Crescent acquisition is its sixth investment in Asia Pacific living assets in less than two years, according to the company.
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