Aware Real Estate Beefs Up Build-to-Rent Pipeline

Super Fund Aware Super’s real estate arm is injecting another 135 apartments into the housing mix at Zetland, with shovels hitting dirt this month. 

The $80-million Bourke Street project in Sydney’s inner south would mainly comprise 80 two-bedroom apartments, alongside a mix of one and three-bedroom apartments. 

It’s the latest in the super fund’s portfolio of build-to-rent and key-worker accommodation projects with five more sites due to be developed across Sydney and Melbourne. 

“We’re delighted to be adding Zetland to the list of communities where we provide build-to-rent housing,” Aware Real Estate chief executive Michelle McNally said. 

“This site ticks every box for us. It’s a highly desirable location, a short walk from key transport services including Green Square Station, and it’s close to other important urban infrastructure and major employment hubs. 

“In short, it’s an ideal addition to our portfolio—a development that will prove popular with residents while offering excellent prospects for growth, helping us in our aim to deliver stable long-term returns for Aware Super members.”

Barings will be development manager of the Zetland project, which was designed by WMK Architecture, continuing the long-running partnership between Altis Property Partners (before it was acquired by Barings) and Aware Real Estate. 

Aware Super chief executive Deanne Stewart said Sydney’s need for more housing was “particularly acute”.

“This development is a wonderful example of how Aware Super can and does play an important role in providing such crucial infrastructure at the same time as we aim to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns for our 1.1 million members,” Stewart said. 

The building would include communal open space on the ground level, a gym, a resident lounge, music room and rooftop barbecue area.

The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2025 and would focus on market-rate rental accommodation. Aware said a decision on whether an allocation of apartments would be put towards Aware Super’s essential-worker-housing program would be made closer to completion. 

Aware Real Estate’s apartment portfolio is expected to swell to 1200 in the next few years. 

The Zetland project would include communal open space on the ground level, a gym, a resident lounge, music room and rooftop barbecue area. There will be almost 80 two-bedroom apartments, with one-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments making up the balance.

The launch of the Zetland project comes several months after Aware Real Estate added a residential development at Dickson, in Canberra, to its portfolio. Acquired as a finished product, Dickson Village is Aware Real Estate’s first wholly owned build-to-rent site in Canberra.

Launched in 2022, Aware Real Estate expects to have a $7-billion portfolio of assets within the next three years across the living, industrial, office and mixed-use sectors.