Student Accommodation Shaken Up By Blue Sky Melbourne

Blue Sky Investments, the Brisbane-headquartered alternative asset manager is ramping up its student accommodation portfolio through its subsidiary Blue Sky Private Real Estate on the back of its $1billion student accommodation joint venture with Goldman Sachs.

Blue Sky Melbourne is the proposed 47 level tower providing 793 student beds planned for 42-50 La Trobe Street in Melbourne which will form part of the JV’s 5,000-10,000 student accommodation portfolio across Australia and New Zealand over the next few years.

The tower, designed by architects Hayball, will replace existing dual historic buildings on the site and is set to be clad in bronze metallic modules which overlap forming what has been described by Hayball as mimicking a snakeskin.

In keeping with the student market 159 bicycle spaces will be provided with no carparking.

The configuration will be split between studios, two bed shared accommodation and five bed cluster rooms.

The development will feature many communal spaces including a typical Melbourne Laneway-type public space.

The existing buildings which have been targeted by the Melbourne Heritage Action Group were purchased from Chinese interests for $22 million.

Head of Blue Sky Private Real Estate, Adam Vaggelas said, “This market has been heavily undersupplied relative to other global student markets.

“Education is Australia’s largest non-resource export industry, worth in excess of $18 billion per annum and growing (and) the ability to scale further into this domestic thematic, in part due to the region’s proximity to a rapidly expanding Asian middle class, is a key focus for the partnership.

“We are looking for future sites to buy and develop right now around the country and New Zealand as well.”

The Development Application was lodged in October 2015.

Related Reading: Blue Sky & Goldman Sachs Team Up For $1 Billion Student Accommodation JV