Perth PBSA’s Two-Storey Uplift Approved

A developer’s bid to add almost 100 beds to its approved student accommodation tower in Perth has been approved.

The City of Perth council at its April 16 meeting voted unanimously to approve the amendment to Accord Property’s plans for 641 Wellington Street.

The developer, who has been working on the proposal for about five years, sought to add two storeys to bring the tower to 18 levels, increasing beds from 450 to 540.

Other changes include a reduced gym area, from 264sq m to 153sq m, to make way for a semi-private study area; and meeting and media rooms. 

The new plan also standardises floor plans across all floors to deliver 25 two-bed studios plus twin and three-bed clusters.

At the time of filing the amendment, Accord Proprty said that the reconfiguration of communal spaces would deliver a more efficient use of space on the first floor and of access to the top floor, and would improve accessibility and amenities. 

The Wellington Street plans were first approved by the City of Perth Local Development Assessment Panel in early 2020.

▲ A render of the previously approved 16-storey tower.

The previous application sought to demolish an existing five-storey office building on the site and build a 16-level student accommodation building of 450 beds, two ground floor commercial tenancies and communal facilities.

The site is at the northern end of Perth City Centre, 200m from Northbridge and 550m west of the Perth rail station. 

Institutional investors are targeting Australia’s booming student accommodation sector, saying it remains a strong hedge against the country’s stubbornly persistent inflation.

Commercial real estate investment manager MaxCap Group believes PBSA remains one of the best drivers of income growth among trading assets.

Speaking at The Urban Developer’s roundtable in Melbourne in March, MaxCap’s head of direct investment Simon Hulett told industry leaders the fundamentals behind student accommodation were quite different from a lot of other commercial real estate.

“It’s a path we are heading down,” he said, “because when we analyse the market sector we see the best of real estate inflationary hedges combined with underlying income growth forecasts.”