IGLU Pays $87m for North Sydney Metro Site with 24-Storey Zoning

A concept scheme prepared during the planning process included 172 apartments, a three-storey commercial podium and a childcare centre, as well as three basement levels with 121 car spaces.

The planning controls allow a maximum floor space ratio of 5.3:1 and require a minimum 1:1 non-residential floor space ratio, ensuring a substantial commercial component is retained.

The site is beside the northern entrance to Victoria Cross Metro station and within walking distance of North Sydney station.

Sydney Metro acquired the property from Uniting for $162.5 million in 2017 as part of the land assembly associated with the construction of Victoria Cross station.

The government agency subsequently pursued a planning uplift for the site before taking it to market, with the sale process targeting a buyer capable of delivering a project aligned with the emerging station precinct.

Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin, Jeff Moxham and Dominic Ong handled the sale.

The transaction was a significant discount to the $162.5 million Sydney Metro paid for the property, although that earlier acquisition included the strategic value of assembling land for the metro project and was made before the current planning controls were established.

The site is subject to a voluntary planning agreement between Sydney Metro and North Sydney Council, executed in October of 2025.

The agreement provides public benefits valued at about $12.5 million, including a ground-level space for a future childcare centre, a pedestrianised through-site link between McLaren and Elliot streets and affordable housing equivalent to up to 5 per cent of the residential gross floor area.

▲ The Cox Architecture-designed Victoria Cross metro station in North Sydney opened in August of 2024 as part of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest line.

The North Sydney Council had previously sought a substantially greater affordable housing contribution from the state-owned site, but the final planning framework capped the affordable housing component at 5 per cent of residential floor area for a minimum of 10 years.

The acquisition gives IGLU a strategic addition to its Sydney development pipeline as the operator expands its purpose-built student accommodation platform.

IGLU already operates student accommodation across Sydney, including at Central, Central Park, Broadway, Redfern, Waterloo, Chatswood, Mascot and Summer Hill, and a second Mascot project is due to open in January of 2027.

The company also operates in Melbourne and Brisbane and is backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and Macquarie Capital.

IGLU’s Sydney portfolio is concentrated around major universities and transport infrastructure, including properties near the University of Sydney, UTS and Macquarie University.

The site sale comes as institutional interest in purpose-built student accommodation remains strong, despite tighter international student policy and a growing pipeline of new beds.

IGLU was also reported last month to be the subject of a potential minority stake sale by GIC, with KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among the parties linked to the process.

The broader student accommodation sector is attracting institutional capital because of its long-term income characteristics and structural demand from Australia’s large university populations, while developers continue to target sites close to campuses and transport networks.

For Sydney Metro, the transaction marks another step in the redevelopment of land acquired to facilitate the city’s expanding metro network, with the former station-construction holding now positioned for a private-sector development that will add housing, commercial space, childcare and pedestrian connections to the Victoria Cross precinct.