Greystar Picks Up GIC Student Living Assets for $1.6bn

Two deals have been struck over Australian assets by overseas firms showcasing an interest in not just the Australian office market but also purpose-built student accommodation.

Last week, Singaporean firm Singapore Land announced that it, in partnership with another subsidiary of its parent company UOL Group, had agreed to buy a half-stake in one of Brookfield’s office towers in Sydney.

The subsidiaries have agreed to pay $460 million to take over the stake in the 28-storey tower at 388 George Street, Sydney, from Brookfield Asset Management. 

CBRE and JLL brokered the sale.

The 3353sq m site between Hyde Park and the Sea Life Aquarium in Sydney is in the city’s traditional downtown area. 

Investa Gateway Office, a joint venture between Canadian firm Oxford Properties Group and Hong Kong-based Link REIT, owns the remaining 50 per cent interest in the tower. 

The tower was fully refurbished in 2020 and is fully leased with a weighted average lease expiry of 6.2 years. 

It has designer flagship stores, end-of-trip facilities and dining spaces. 

Investa will continue to manage the building with the subsidiaries’ stake placed in a trust. 

Meanwhile, another Singaporean entity, the sovereign wealth fund GIC, has agreed to sell its purpose-built student accommodation arm for $1.6 billion to US-based Greystar.

It is the biggest deal for Greystar on Australian shores. 

▲ South Carolina-based Greystar has three built-to-rent projects under development in Australia—all of them in Melbourne.

GIC spent $568 million to buy the assets from another Singaporean firm Wee Hur Holdings in 2022.

Greystar will now own seven PBSA towers across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra, accounting for about 5662 beds. 

The firm has $477 billion in assets and almost a million apartments in its portfolio. 

Greystar intends to finance the deal with a split between debt and equity with Wee Hur retaining a stake in the business and Australia’s own sovereign wealth fund Future Fund keen to invest in it. 

The company has six Australian projects with 2500 apartments and has been focused on the built-to-rent asset class.

As reported in other media, the deal comes as new legislation proposing a cap to international student enrolments at Australian universities of 270,000 for 2025 is due to be considered at November’s sitting session for Federal Parliament.

GIC still holds its investment in PBSA firm Iglu.