OpenCorp launches new development fund for project in Melbourne's Hawthorn East

Melbourne-based developer and fund manager OpenCorp has launched a new fund to invest in a development in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn East.

Australian investors have the opportunity to invest in OpenCorp’s 70-apartment boutique development on Toorak Road, worth an estimated $40 million.

The $6.5 million site was acquired through a competitive tender process in December 2015. The development falls within the tightly held area of Boroondara, one of Melbourne’s most highly sought after council areas.

The Hawthorn East fund is the second project to be offered to investors under OpenCorp’s ‘Open Access Fund’, which allows investors to hold their money in the fund, generating a low-risk return, before they allocate it into new projects as opportunities arise.

OpenCorp director Matthew Lewison said the project is forecast to achieve about 50 per cent return on equity over the next 2.5 years.

“The Hawthorn East development sits within an area with extremely high demand. Projects nearby have sold out, and we expect this boutique development to attract a huge amount of interest,” Lewison says.

The first fund to be released through the Open Access Fund, the Albion Fund, was fully subscribed, raising $6.5 million in three weeks.

Since its launch on March 18, the Open Access Fund raised $10.5 million in equity in under six weeks from individual and SMSF investors.

OpenCorp has engaged architects ROTHELOWMAN to design the development, which will be marketed towards the downsizer and owner-occupier.

The development will include a ‘flexi option’ where buyers can combine two one-bedroom apartments to create a 103 sqm, three-bedroom option, with upper levels likely to have city views.

With a median house price of $2.3 million, Hawthorn East is currently Victoria’s third most expensive suburb and has long been a sought after area for Melbourne buyers.

OpenCorp currently has a project development pipeline of more than $500 million in apartments and townhouses around Australia.