Melbourne super giant buys Curtin Exchange
A major super fund has quietly bought a $300 million student accommodation based mixed use investment within Curtin University’s Bentley campus.
The concession – a type of leasehold – for Curtin Exchange found favour with Melbourne based IFM Investors, on behalf of IFM’s managed funds via a special purpose vehicle management firm, Infranexus
Also since 2008 the manager of the District Court of Western Australia, it is Infranexus’ maiden asset of this type.
The seller is London based InfraRed Capital Partners which bought the 35 year concession in 2019 via an entity, Live-In Learning.
Curtin University then financed the project, opened in 2022, with end value put at $300m.
IFM Investors is owned 15 Australian industry super funds, amongst them Australian Super, Cbus Super, Hesta, Hostplus, REI Super and Vision Super, and a UK based pension fund.
Maiden student accommodation investment
The Curtin Exchange precinct contains about 1000 student accommodation beds in two buildings – St Catherine’s College, with 407 catered rooms, and a 10 level UniLodge, with 517 beds. There are also 38 self-contained apartments in a complex called Zamira.
It also includes retail, anchored by an IGA supermarket, a hotel and offices.
“This project is a significant and strategic addition to the IFM and the Infranexus platform and as a result has the potential to deliver long-term risk adjusted returns for IFM’s clients and the working people they represent,” IFM head of Infrastructure, Australia, Michael Hanna, said.
“This investment builds on IFM and Infranexus’ experience in managing complex infrastructure and PPPs and we look forward to supporting and working with Curtin University,” according to the executive.
Following settlement next month, IFM will control c$235 billion in assets from 13 global offices.
“This project aligns strongly with our purpose and vision and is a new investment in the student accommodation sector,” Infranexus Management chief executive officer, Nick Easy, added.
“We look forward to continuing and strengthening the strong partnership with Curtin University by supporting tertiary education with a range of purpose-build student accommodation options,” he said.
Bentley is eight kilometres south west of the CBD.
“We are extremely pleased with the successful outcome of this investment and project…it has been delivered end-to-end under InfraRed’s long term ownership from initial design and development in partnership with Curtin University through to successful operation delivery, operation and refinance” InfraRed director, Sven Stuvican, added.
“This has been a transformational precinct development for our client and the student community,” according to the executive.
“The asset is performing with high occupancy and has demonstrated strong resilience even during challenging periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
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