Greystar Tops Out $175m Zetland BtR, Hunts More Sydney Sites

Greystar’s $175-million build-to-rent project in Sydney’s Zetland has topped out as the twin towers reach their seven-storey pinnacle. The 190-home scheme at 888 Bourke Street is under construction by TQM, with a February 2027 completion still on track despite the construction sector impacts from the Iran conflict. Greystar APAC executive director Adam Pillay told The Urban Developer that The Bourke will “plant a flag in the ground in Sydney, as our first build-to-rent development [in NSW]”, but that the developer-operator will be looking to leverage any economic turmoil into a deeper pipeline. The project will join the 1300-home Haiku-branded portfolio in Melbourne including the $500-million Gladstone , Claremont and Yarra complexes. The 7069sq m triple-frontage (to O’Dea Avenue, Bourke Street and Kingsborough Avenue) site was acquired as a DA-approved project in 2023. Greystar reportedly paid Toplace $72 million, pivoting the project from build-to-sell. “What attracted us to this site was location. And the opportunity to build something that was digestible for the market,” Pillay said. “What I mean by that is not 600 or 700 units; something smaller that played directly to what the characteristics of the demographics in this local market were looking for.” The PTW Architects design includes more than 700sq m of amenity, with both a gym and a wellness studio, a pet spa and dedicated dog park, and private dining areas. ▲ Design by PTW Architects and marketing under the Haiku brand will target the demands of the local demographic. Sitting about 500m from the Green Square town centre and train station, and 3.5km south of the Sydney CBD, the towers will include a mix of typologies from studios to three-bedroom apartments. Furnished homes will also be offered. The Bourke will be followed by other build-to-rent and student projects in Sydney as Greystar looks to build a 10,000-bed PBSA portfolio . The developer has 442 build-to-rent homes also under construction at 352-400 Macauley Road in Melbourne’s Kensington. Pillay said that Greystar has “a deep pipeline of opportunities that we’re assessing, and to be honest, it’s probably growing at the fastest clip that we’ve seen since we entered the market in 2017”. “Largely because of the pressures that have been created for a lot of landholders around higher interest rates and higher construction costs. And so from that standpoint, our expectation is to add much more supply to the Sydney market, whether that’s in build-to-rent or student over the next couple of years.” ▲[From left] Maroun Taouk (TQM), Cameron Bond (Greystar), Andrew Pretto (Greystar), Mark Taouk (TQM), Adam Pillay (Greystar), Raji Kazzi (TQM) at the topping out on April 30. Pillay said that headwinds in the industry were an opportunity for Greystar to acquire sites and partnerships “and the reason for that is not every group is afforded the same support in terms of capital as we are”. “We’re a global business with multiple pools of equity we can draw down on, to invest in this market. So when you start to have pressure building in terms of liquidity constraints or maturity, risk on borrowings, those types of things, that’s where our capital can be very valuable.” Greystar development director Cameron Bond said that “we work hand in hand with TQM, to identify any key supply chain risk that there may be. They’ve done an excellent job of procuring items well in advance.” “These markets are cyclical. It’s happened globally previously. And you know, we’re well positioned to leverage our global experience to get through these scenarios,” Bond said. ▲ The Bourke is the first project in Greystar’s build-to-rent Sydney expansion. “We have a bit of a leading indicator to what could happen here. We bake that into our underwriting to ensure that we’re capturing the risk accurately”. Pillay said that Greystar would not rely on the strength of the product, or the demand in the market, to fill the building. Branding and marketing campaigns, such a Melbourne promotion that offered rent-free homes to content creators and influencers, will continue to support the assets. “There’s so much of an art in the operation side of the business. You know, we’ve been doing this for 30 years. So we’ve made many, many mistakes before, and hopefully we don’t make them twice,” Pillay said. “If you don’t have a brand that is valued by your resident, or the community that you create isn’t vibrant or addressing what is an ever changing set of demands, you cannot be successful. “There is no ‘build it, and they will come’ that I’ve seen anywhere in the globe, in what we do.”

Build-to-Rent
Patrick Lau
Thu 30 Apr 26

Greystar Tops Out $175m Zetland BtR, Hunts More Sydney Sites

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