Creating a Community ‘Crucial to Build-to-Rent Success

“It’s not a one size fits all.”

HOME director Christian Grahame is referring to the fact clients and customers are varied individuals with needs and wants. 

It is a fact that is extremely relevant to build-to-rent developers, where HOME now has two operating projects and around 3300 apartments.

It puts them ahead of Mirvac’s Liv platform with its 2400 apartments.

“You can’t say, ‘Here is a 27-year-old millennial’, the market is much more diverse than that,” Grahame said. 

“And you need to pay attention to and understand the details around who your community is and adapt your offer to suit them.”

Residents could be from anywhere, from any background with any number of needs—something that will be front of mind when Grahame takes part in The Urban Developer The Evolution of Build-to-Rent in Australia vSummit on May 25.

“You’re attracting locals, people from interstate and also international locations, and that brings a level of diversity to the community,” Grahame said.

“And then you have the pets—around a third of our residents have pets and that creates a cohort within the community as well.”

Pets, much like disability access, is an example of how developers have to think about the design and operational stages of their buildings with tenants’ needs in mind.

With both, the buildings have to be designed for accessibility and to allow for particular functions to occur more easily—that might mean better disability accessibility across the entire building in public and private areas or facilities such as pet parks and dog wash stations included.

But it also means thinking beyond design to what the lived experience will be like and how a developer can create a sense of community within the project. 

“We do ‘Yappy Hour’,” Grahame said.

“The pets are a really big part of the community—they often bring the residents together.

“They are often the cause for social occasions and outings.”

▲ The concierge at HOME Richmond by developer HOME. Image: Lisa Cohen

For Grahame, being flexible in how you run the community within a project is key. 

“If someone has an injury or is debilitated in some way, they will generally talk to us and we will work with them to find a location in the building even if that means moving them where that actually works,” he said.

But as much as developers can help set up their build-to-rent projects for success in both design and operations, there are also moments where you have to step back.

“There’s a completely organic side that comes from when that community begins to form and it forms its own view about what social activities and interests it has,” Grahame said.

“And will we then adjust our community and events program to facilitate that: anything from the Yappy Hour to White Lotus Night, the Soccer World Cup to informal libraries.

“We can set up all the formal channels but then you will always end up with residents on other channels in its own unstructured way. 

“I think it’s great because that’s the residency gauging the way they want to engage.”

And it is important because build-to-rent is here to stay. Grahame believes HOME has demonstrated proof of concept with its two projects already running in Richmond and Southbank in Melbourne. 

“We did a lot of research overseas in the early days and then we bought that to Australia and put an Australian lens on it for Australian customers and we’ve been really pleased with the results,” Grahame said.

“Australian organisations can create and operate rental communities that are going to be attractive to a local market.”

And with this sector, feasibility means getting tenants to stay.

“We want them to feel happy and welcome and we want them to stay,” Grahame said.

“Community is a really big part of that.”

The Urban Developer’s The Evolution of Build-to-Rent in Australia vSummit will be held on Thursday, May 25.

Click here for more details and to register.