Singapore Developer Files $132m Macquarie Park Student Plans

A $132-million purpose-built student accommodation development planned for Sydney’s Macquarie Park will cater to the influx of international students returning to Australia, the developers say. 

Urbis lodged the application on behalf of Lachlan Avenue Developments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centurion Properties Australia Investments Pty Ltd an Australian subsidiary of Centurion Properties Pte Ltd, which is the principal shareholder of Singapore's Centurion Corporation Ltd. 

According to ASIC documents, the companies are owned by Singapore's Centurion Corporation, which specialises in purpose-built worker and student accommodation in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The developer’s vision is “to create a well-connected living, learning and social environment that is built to the highest environmental standards”, according to planning documents lodged with the City of Ryde Council.

The plans, which were subsequently referred to the Sydney North Planning Panel due to their capital investment value, are for a site at 17-21 Lachlan Avenue and 163 Herring Road, Macquarie Park.

The development will combat the “acknowledged shortage of accommodation for international students” at nearby Macquarie University, which is home to more than 44,000 students from 10 countries.

The proposal comprises a stepped 10, 13 and 15 storey development with a 17,163sq m floorplan designed by AJC Architects.

Lower levels have communal areas including lounges, a cinema and a communal laundry. 

A landscaped courtyard and rooftop terraces including a swimming pool would be on level 10 as part of its aim to deliver “large and varied communal spaces and supporting amenities for students to interact and create a high-quality living environment”.

The 732 beds will be split between studio apartments and five-bed cluster units. 

Currently housing four four-storey residential buildings, the site is “strategically located” 220m from Macquarie University Metro Station and 1km south-west of the Macquarie Park CBD. 

▲ The Chinese government edict that students must return to on-campus learning last month has heighted concerns about student housing undersupply.

“There are currently no off-campus PBSA facilities developed within the immediate vicinity of Macquarie University,” the application said.

Another student accommodation development, at 23-25 Lachlan Avenue to the northwest of the site, was the first off-campus PBSA close to Macquarie University to be approved, in July 2022, and will deliver 488 beds across 15 storeys.

It identified Macquarie Park as “undergoing significant transformation into a high density urban centre” with major projects in the works.

This includes Iwan Sunito’s One Global Residences and Resorts which is set to build a $450 million three-tower residential development, also on Lachlan Avenue. 

Developers are realising the potential of student accommodation as students begin to return from overseas and domestically to campuses across the country following the pandemic.

However, the Property Council of Australia warned last week that there would be an “imminent shortage” of purpose-built student accommodation, providing an opportunity for developers in the space.