Brisbane CBD to welcome new circa $500 million student accommodation facility in proximity to key tertiary locations

3 October 2024

Marquette Properties and Dexus partnering on 1200-bed development after JLL, CBRE and Navigator Property Group broker $123 million deal for 41 George Street

Brisbane-based investment manager Marquette Properties is partnering with Dexus to develop a 1200-bed Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) Facility after paying $123 million for a high-profile site in the CBD.

Construction work at 41 George Street will begin imminently to transform the existing 27-storey
B-grade office asset into a facility valued at circa $500 million upon completion, which is expected in 2026.

JLL’s Paul Noonan and Seb Turnbull, CBRE’s Bruce Baker and Navigator Property Group’s Tom Phipps transacted the deal. It was acquired through Dexus’s opportunistic fund series, Dexus Real Estate Partnership (DREP), with 5% of the economic interest held by Marquette Properties.

Toby Lewis, Managing Director of Marquette Properties, said the development marked the company’s fourth involvement in a PBSA project in the city’s CBD – the second adaptive re-use.

Mr Lewis said the 2811sqm site, cornered by Margaret Street, was ideally positioned to capitalise on the CBD’s evolving educational profile in a city suffering from low supply and high demand for housing.

“Griffith University’s recent acquisition of the Treasury Building for a new CBD campus enhances a tertiary mix that already includes UQ Brisbane City, QUT’s Gardens Point campus and CQ University,” he said.

“Education is the third-largest export in Australia broadly and the largest within Brisbane,” said Mr Lewis, who noted the city’s chronic shortage of housing for all types, ages and circumstances.

“The introduction of 1200 student beds represents a significant boost to supply, representing the equivalent of 12 x 50 two-bedroom apartments blocks.

“We are very pleased to be building on our relationship with Dexus and are proud to be partnering with them on this exciting project.”

Dexus, one of Australia’s largest owners of on-campus student accommodation, and Marquette, have engaged Hutchinson Builders for construction of the facility, which will reutilise the existing structure, centralised lift core and face and include three floors of amenity including gym, yoga, gaming and cinema rooms.