Mirvac and John Holland Sydney metro project to include 23-storey student accommodation

Mirvac and John Holland’s five tower precinct above Sydney’s Waterloo metro station will include accommodation for 500 students.

An artist’s impression of the proposed Metro development at Sydney’s Waterloo.

Listed property group Mirvac and developer John Holland are pushing ahead with a five tower precinct above Sydney’s planned metro railway station in inner-city Waterloo, tapping student accommodation operator Iglu to run a tower for 500 students.

While some rival projects have been delayed due to the coronavirus-caused economic slowdown - including the GPT Group putting two major development projects in Sydney and Melbourne on ice - Mirvac has a busy roster.

Mirvac has already laid out plans for a $1bn-plus office block near Circular Quay and for Sydney’s tallest apartment building at 505 George Street. The company is also proposing to build luxury apartments above Sydney’s Harbourside Shopping Centre.

The Mirvac-John Holland joint venture, which will deliver the station and related buildings for the NSW government, confirmed it had agreed terms under which Iglu will own and operate the proposed student housing development on the site.

The Waterloo concept comprises high-rise offices and residential apartments, with a retail element as well as student and social housing.

A joint venture spokeswoman said “the capital partnering on the proposed student housing is consistent with our strategy”.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Iglu and look forward to seeing the additional diversity that student housing will bring to the area,” she said.

“All parties will now work through the design and planning process, to bring our collective experience to the project to ensure our aim of delivering a world-class, integrated station development,” she said.

“The inclusion of student housing will be fundamental to activating the precinct and will support the revitalisation program that is driving the overall vision for the site.”

Mirvac and John Holland won the Waterloo project last December. It has an end value of $800m and will be completed over the next five to six years.

John Holland will deliver the station and the consortium will deliver the development component.

There will be three towers and two mid-rise buildings above and next to the station and at least five per cent of homes will be affordable housing and 70 apartments will be social housing.

Mirvac will also seek a capital partner for a 50/50 end ownership of the office and retail components, which it will manage.

It is proposing a 23-storey building for the student accommodation, to be delivered as a mixture of studio and twin apartments.

Iglu is one of the country’s top student accommodation companies. It has facilities near Sydney’s Central Station and others in Brisbane, in the CBD and in Kelvin Grove. It also operates in Sydney’s Redfern, Broadway and Chatswood. In Melbourne it has a CBD property in Franklin Street and another in South Yarra, and it is working on another city tower in Russell Street.

Artist’s impression of proposed student accommodation at South Yarra.

A report by real estate agency Savills said that after a decade of sustained development and growth, the student accommodation market had begun to reach a point of early maturity.

Notably, the acquisitive Scape closed a $2.2bn deal to buy the Urbanest operation despite the COVID-19 pandemic hitting occupier demand, as travel restrictions disrupted the movement of international students.

The border shutdown in March and the repatriation of citizens triggered a decline in occupancy, with operators reporting falls of between 20 per cent to 50 per cent.

But long term the picture is brighter, with the possibility of chartered flights being allowed to enter Australia for international students returning in semester two or next year.

“With competitor nations facing their own pandemics, and struggles relating to the higher education sector, Australia will benefit from the strict, yet early, control of COVID-19,” Savills director, student accommodation, Conal Newland, said.