Aware Super closes in on Brunswick & Co’s Brisbane build-to-rent complex

Superannuation major Aware is close to buying the Brunswick & Co build-to-rent complex in Brisbane which is expected to change hands for around the $300m mark.

Aware is targeting the purchase of the Brunswick & Co complex in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, being developed by Frasers Property Australia. Picture: Sophie Foster.

Aware Super is stepping up in the build-to-rent market and is close to a deal to buy the Brunswick & Co complex in Brisbane for around the $300m mark.

The asset is being sold by Singaporean property developer Frasers which is undertaking the project under a pilot scheme supported by the Queensland government.

The parties and agent CBRE declined to comment.

But a deal by the superannuation fund major could open the way for more big local investors to get into the emerging sector that’s considered part of the solution to the nation’s housing crisis.

Once complete, the deal is forecast to set a benchmark for completed stock in the new sector; industry experts believe that the complex would trade at a yield of about 4.5 per cent.

This initial level is partly supported by the expected increases in both rentals in the Queensland capital, due to a shortage of a stock, and the lift in value expected for completed residential stock as buildings undertaken in future will be more expensive due to construction pressures.

The sale will be considered more broadly across the build-to-rent industry as a benchmark for the value of completed stock as very few assets have actually traded.

More buildings are coming to market in Melbourne and Perth with other capital cities to follow. Analysts expect whole platforms to be targeted as more marginal operators seek to leave the industry due to the difficulties of getting some projects out of the ground.

This month, a venture between US group Greystar and Malaysian company UEM Sunrise to develop a site in Melbourne’s inner-city Collingwood was terminated.

A deal by Aware would signal that major superannuation funds are willing to seriously invest in the housing sector. A series of overseas entrants came into the sector, looking to develop sites, usually the backing of international pension money.

Some have found the going tougher than expected, and have changed strategies. Notably Hines switched from a development strategy – and is selling three sites in Melbourne – and instead bought two towers in Brisbane. The US investment giant last year teamed up with Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to buy two build-to-rent apartment blocks in Brisbane in a deal worth about $350m.

The involvement of Australian super funds is expected to become more dominant in the coming years, partly as there is a political imperative to solve the housing crisis but also as superannuation funds have indicated that they want to invest in the area.

The Frasers transaction will mark one of the first whole-of-building sales, whereas many other developers have tried to pre-sell their projects at a much earlier stage. The Singapore-backed Frasers Property Australia put the project on the market in March.

The Brunswick & Co. complex being delivered in partnership with the Queensland government as part of its build-to-rent pilot project, will have 366 apartments. Of these, 144 will be made available at a discounted rent through a subsidy from the state government, when the building is completed in early 2026.

The sale of the Fortitude Valley development, now under construction by Hutchinson Builders, will be settled with the government partnership in place, allowing the new owner to participate in the BTR Pilot Project.