EG Plots Dual Tower Build-to-Rent Project in Perth

Sydney-based fund manager EG has lodged plans for a dual-tower project in Perth’s inner north offering a mix of build-to-sell and build-to-rent apartments.

EG purchased the 4300sq m site at 40 Frame Court, Leederville, currently occupied by a two-level office building and leased to Water Corporation of Western Australia, for $12.5 million in late 2019.

The fund manager said it pursued the site due to the area’s significant renewal potential with the Town of Vincent releasing the draft for a new structure plan process to inform development across the precinct earlier this year.

EG has now put forward plans for 16-storey and 25-storey towers above a shared five-storey podium. The project will comprise 279 dwellings. 

The project will be built 250m from the Leederville rail station and Leederville’s central retail strip. Pending approvals, EG expects the residential project to hit the market by 2023.

EG development director Grant Flannigan said the development application had been carefully iterated over years of collaboration with the City of Vincent and local community group Leederville Connect.

“EG doesn’t cut and run—we like to curate places that put people first,” Flannigan said.

“For this reason, the plans have been carefully designed to include a range of homes—everything from co-living to build-to-rent studios and four-bedroom family apartments.”

Leederville Connect chair Anna Kelderman said EG’s approach to local input and feedback had set the example to other developers looking to build under the new structure plan in Leederville.

▲ EG said a series of workshops had informed the inclusion of a flexible art gallery, open co-working space and community multi-purpose centre. Image: Cameron Chisholm Nichol

Founded in 2000 by property veteran Michael Easson and brothers Shane and Adam Geha, EG has $5.1 billion in assets under management with investments spread across half a dozen unlisted funds.

Its Leederville project adds to a $3.9 billion in-development pipeline and sits within its Yield Plus Infrastructure 2 Fund (YPI 2) which was launched in July 2016 with the ability to invest more than $750 million across eight assets.

The fund's focus has been on acquiring yield-producing assets likely to benefit from urban renewal, new transport and community infrastructure, rezoning, repositioning and redevelopment potential.

The development will be built under a similar model to EG’s most recent residential development, Flour Mill of Summer Hill, a master-planned community in Sydney’s inner west that was delivered for the fund’s predecessor—YP1, which raised $240 million in 2006 and purchased 17 assets for $311 million.

Under a similar strategy, The Flour Mill of Summer Hill incorporates the adaptive re-use of its industrial heritage to feature 360 dwellings and retain the Flour Mill Markets. 

Flannigan said the recent launch of its wellbeing-focused not-for-profit Little B.I.G. House community space at the Flour Mill had acted as a successful pilot for its Leederville plans.

EG’s decision to deliver build-to-rent apartments in central Perth follows the state government’s 2022-23 state budget announced in May which signalled significant reforms to housing availability including a 50 per cent reduction in land tax to incentivise the construction of build-to-rent stock.

The move was a needed one as Perth’s housing market continues to tighten, with vacancy rates dropping below 1 per cent in the June quarter down from 1.4 per cent at the same time last year.

The state government's land agency, DevelopmentWA, has moved quickly to pad out its build-to-rent pipeline announcing last month its decision to approve a $400-million revitalisation of the historic former Perth Girls School comprising 742 new apartments, 500 of which will be build-to-rent

The $1 billion, six-tower residential development in East Perth, being overseen by Australian Development Capital and Warburton Group, will be constructed over a 1.1ha site abutting the heritage-listed former Perth Girls’ School at 2 Wellington Street.

Learn more about the build-to-rent sector and what’s ahead for this red-hot segment of the industry at The Urban Developer’s Build-to-Rent vSummit on Thursday, August 25.