Student living provider snaps up last CUB site

Student living provider snaps up last CUB siteGrocon has sold 557-591 Swanston Street, the last remaining development site in Melbourne’s former Carlton & United Brewery precinct, to London-based student accommodation provider, Scape Student Living.Scape, which has partnered with Dutch pension fund APG, has purchased a number of sites in Melbourne recently, including a $400 million development-approved site bounded by La Trobe, Little LaTrobe and Swanston Streets that will include 10 bedrooms. In total, Scape has 20 beds planned in Melbourne.The company has also acquired two sites in Brisbane’s Southbank that will be transformed into a $160 million student housing facility with 700 bedrooms. Scape’s business model is focused on creating a new level of integrated student accommodation, with ‘designer’ student rooms and access to upscale add-ons such as gymnasiums.JLL’s Australian Student Accommodation Market Update 2015, published in June, found Melbourne currently has the biggest shortfall of existing and planned accommodation for students, with a deficit of 69,323 beds. In Sydney, the gap is 29,361, while Brisbane is 15,309 beds behind.Grocon purchased the entire CUB precinct from RMIT in 2007 for $39 million, generating more than $100 million from the sale of land parcels not needed for development.After being awarded a prized planning permit for one of Melbourne’s last premium apartment projects at 85 Spring Street, Grocon decided 557-591 Swanston Street was surplus to current development requirements.The off-market sale attracted strong interest from residential developers and university operators, as well as student accommodation providers.The sale was brokered by Colliers International’s Trent Hobart and Bryson Cameron in conjunction with CBRE’s Mark Wizel.