Expansionary Blue Sky student accommodation sites under construction
Blue Sky Private Real Estate has commenced construction on two new student accommodation sites in Melbourne and Adelaide.
It will boost its student accommodation pipeline to more than 3,300 beds as part of its joint venture with global investor Goldman Sachs.
The new sites are due to open in early 2018.
The joint venture’s target is for a portfolio of 5,000 to 10,000 beds, representing $1.5 billion in assets under management, over the next few years.
Blue Sky’s first student accommodation facility (286 beds in Regent St, Brisbane) opened its doors in July this year.
A second 725-bed facility on Merivale Street, Brisbane is set to be fully operational in February 2017.
Blue Sky is drawing on Goldman Sachs’ expertise owning and operating more than 23,000 beds in the UK.
The sites for the Melbourne and Adelaide facilities are located in both cities’ education precincts.
The 783-bed Melbourne facility (above) is within walking distance of RMIT, the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Central train station.
The 428-bed Adelaide facility (below) in the western CBD will service students of the University of South Australia and University of Adelaide.
Education is now Australia’s third largest export industry, behind iron ore and coal, and student accommodation in Australia is attracting significant international attention with US, Chinese, European and South African investors coming into the market.
More than 300,000 overseas students choose to study in Australia with growth likely to accelerate following the introduction of the Government’s simplified visa program, which came into effect three months ago.
Blue Sky's Nick Singleton was previously the finance director of London-based International Public Partnerships, a FTSE 250 infrastructure group, to assist in taking the group further into the social real estate and infrastructure space.
Blue Sky Private Real Estate is a division of ASX 300 listed Blue Sky Alternative Investments Limited.