The fund launched in 2015 and successfully developed 8 of the fund’s 9 assets, deploying more than A$750 million in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Auckland. The exiting investors achieved a gross IRR of 14.7%, which was at the top of the expected range when the fund was established. These returns were achieved despite the COVID-19-related occupancy challenges and underscore the underlying strength of the student accommodation sector in Australia and New Zealand. 

Following the sale of the minority partners’ interests in the Fund, the remaining unitholders have appointed GPT as the new fund manager. UniLodge will continue as the operator of the properties. 

“We are very proud of the excellent returns that our team and our partners achieved as we developed and managed this unique portfolio of assets,” remarked Bernie Armstrong, the CEO of Cedar Pacific.  

Cedar Pacific continues to manage and develop student accommodation assets on behalf of its institutional investors in other partnerships with a strong focus on ESG. All current and future developments are being constructed to a minimum 5-star Green Star rating or equivalent and will operate as net carbon neutral. 

As part of Cedar Pacific’s strategy to expand its offering in the living sector, it is currently in the process of raising capital for a build-to-rent investment fund of A$500 million that it is seeding with several assets in development and will soon begin fundraising for an infrastructure fund and a third student accommodation fund. 

Cedar Pacific is a leading investment manager and developer in the living sector, having developed more than 10,200 beds in Australia and New Zealand, 1,400 of which are in the construction phase. The experienced Cedar Pacific team will continue to deploy capital with its investment partners to achieve market-leading returns in this dynamic sector.