CFMEU Looking for Brisbane Build-to-Rent Partner

The Queensland branch of the CFMEU is seeking a joint venture partner for one of Brisbane’s biggest build-to-rent developments.

The construction and mining union won approval for the 30-storey Bowen Hills development and its 380 apartments earlier this year.

Now the union has taken on global real estate services giant CBRE to help it find a partner for the shovel-ready project in Campbell Street, just a stone’s throw from the Bowen Hills railway station.

CBRE’s regional director of living sectors and capital markets Andrew Purdon said the expression-of-interest campaign was likely to generate scrutiny from both domestic and overseas capital.

“The investment rationale for developing build-to-rent in Brisbane is very compelling,” he said.

“There are approximately 300,000 people living in inner Brisbane and 50 per cent of those are renters. 

“There are two completed build-to-rent developments in the city which offer less than 300 apartments in total and both buildings are fully let with waiting lists. Brisbane’s residential rental vacancy rate is currently less than one per cent and the median apartment rent has grown by about 12.5 per cent during the past 12 months.”

▲ The construction and mining union won approval for the 30-storey Bowen Hills development earlier this year.

To be known as Number One Bowen, the project will include a mix of studios and one, two and three-bedroom apartments. There will be several lounges, a roof top pool and spa deck, indoor and outdoor gyms, as well as co-working spaces.

The Nettleton Tribe-designed building will sit on an amalgamated 3276sq m block in a priority development zone in downtown Brisbane.

The CFMEU branch, under state secretary Michael Ravbar, acquired the site between December 2019 and July 2020 for a combined price of $17 million.

Ravbar said the union was upbeat about assisting in increasing the housing and rental supply in south-east Queensland as a positive contribution to an undersupplied market and demonstrating that projects can proceed and be profitable while delivering for the wider community.