Arklife’s managing director Scott Ponton was brief, almost to the point of abrupt.

The worst-kept secret on Australia’s eastern seaboard is that US-based Hines—the second biggest global build-to-rent player—is deep in due diligence to acquire two of Arklife’s three assets in Queensland.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room,” the interviewer asked Ponton as he sat on stage in front of about 300 industry leaders at The Urban Developer’s day-long Build-to-Rent Summit in Melbourne.