Amid the talk of an infrastructure-led revival, the Queensland government will shortly unveil the completion of its 184-bed Metro North public hospital in Brisbane, marking a first in financing by retail investors in a long-term lease deal.
The $1.5 billion project is being managed by Australian Unity, founded in part by its $2.2 billion unlisted Healthcare Property Trust as part of a revitalisation of the Herston Quarter, 2.2kms from the CBD.
The social infrastructure project is being led by former Macquarie banker Esther Kerr-Smith, who is head of Australian Unity’s wealth and capital markets division.
The site brings together the University of Queensland’s medicine faculty and the Brisbane Women’s Hospital and will also include a new private hospital, student and other residential accommodation, retirement and aged care facilities and retail sites.
Building on the site will take some seven years and encompass healthcare and research in the one precinct.
Kerr-Smith said the community co-ordination project was outcomes-focused, bringing together debt and equity capital to bridge financial and community aims.
The unlisted trust has operated for over 20 years and in the last 12 per cent had a total return of 7.9 per cent, including a 4.7 per cent distribution return and a 3.2 per cent growth return.
The project is an example of privately-funded public infrastructure which, while COVID-19 is constraining government budgets, is a clearly attractive model, while obviously also delivering construction and healthcare jobs.
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