The first institutional build-to-rent investment platform in Australia – Mirvac’s Australian Build-to-Rent Club (ABTRC) – will bring the benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency to families and tenants in the home rental market.
The CEFC is a cornerstone investor in the ABTRC, with Mirvac identifying the Indigo building in its Pavilions project in Sydney’s Olympic Park as the seed asset. The CEFC investment will further enhance design across the 258 one, two and three-bedroom apartments, using clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.
The build-to-rent project, scheduled for completion by mid-2021, will include on-site solar PV, energy display and monitoring systems, high-efficiency LED lighting, energy efficient appliances, glazing upgrades, car-park exhaust fans and passive solar design.
Together, the initiatives are expected to cut energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 per cent compared with what would be achieved under the minimum standards of the National Construction Code.
The ABTRC is targeting a portfolio of five to six projects, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne.
Build-to-rent or multi-family residential developments are well established in the US and Europe, where institutional investors own entire residential developments, and offer the surety of long-term leases to individual residents.
Australia’s emerging build-to-rent market provides the opportunity for developers and owners to develop properties with a whole of lifecycle approach. This can ensure clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives are incorporated from the planning stage, driving energy savings for owners and tenants.
The CEFC has made a AU$50 million cornerstone equity investment as part of a first close in the ABTRC, to demonstrate how energy efficient buildings with long-term environmental benefits can be achieved across what is expected to be a major investment platform in Australian housing.