Sekisui House Is On Course For A Win

A unique and elevated lifestyle opportunity — one built around golf, space, smart design and opportunity — Norman Estates at Gledswood Hills is a seamless alignment that sees Sekisui House bring Greg Norman’s revered branded residences to Australia for the first time.

Situated just 45 minutes from the Sydney CBD, the new $300m development includes 190 expansive homes offering unmatched amenities — including resident-only clubhouse lounge, gymnasium, tennis court and resort-style pool — surrounded by idyllic green parklands and views across the adjoining Great Norman signature and Camden Lakeside golf courses.

We caught up with Sekisui House’s General Manager, Craig D’Costa, to learn more.

Robb Report: This is an exciting project and a real coup too – can we talk through how this partnership came to be?

Craig D’Costa: The partnership between Greg and Sekisui House started in 2015 through the engagement of Greg’s golf course design group to deliver a signature Par-3 nine hole course within our masterplanned community in Sydney’s south west. We saw the perfect opportunity to collaborate with Australia’s most iconic golfing legend who also happens to be a very successful business entrepreneur with a great eye for detail and luxury brands. With a natural synergy of business values and sustainability ethos, the partnership discussions soon matured beyond golf to exploring the possibility to introduce Greg Norman’s real estate brand to Australia; Norman Estates.

Sekisui House’s General Manager, Craig D’Costa.

RR: There is a synergy here between brands — one that is centrally grafted to notions of innovation.

CDC: Greg has always been aligned with innovation — be it with golf or any one of his other successful businesses within the Norman Group. And no better way to showcase Sekisui House’s innovation was to introduce Greg to our global head office based in Osaka, Japan. During this trip we also hosted him through an intimate tour of our premier R&D Centre and Housing Manufacturing Facility in Tokyo; where our innovations through design and construction of our SHAWOOD homes are expertly displayed — and he was onboard from the get go.

RR: What are some of the inclusions here — as standard — that speak to that innovation and sustainability that sets Sekisui House apart?

CDC: Norman Estates at Gledswood Hills is really at the pinnacle of our intensive R&D and testing of our design and construction methodology tailored for the Australian marketplace — the inclusions that are standard within these homes are substantial. And there are many ‘headline features’ that are considered well beyond the normal appointments of most newly constructed homes in metropolitan Sydney — each home will include rooftop electricity generation and battery storage as standard. There’s tech enabled lighting control via voice or smart phone, the front door has a unique proximity key, the garage doors themselves can be remotely controlled from anywhere in the world and provide notifications of its operations to all household members. And then there’s also highly efficient, intuitive air conditioning which can control itself to keep the temperatures regulated, or can be activated when you’re not at home, providing the ability for your desired temperature to be established upon your arrival.

RR: Talk to us about Greg Norman — we imagine him to be someone who is hands on, genuinely involved and invested?

CDC: He certainly doesn’t just slap his name and association on anything. Greg and his dedicated team have been very involved, working collaboratively with us on the overall development masterplan concepts as well as the detailed architectural design and finishes. He has high and exacting standards and trusts Sekisui House to deliver the collective project vision. We have been to Florida a few times for design sessions with Greg at his company headquarters and of course he and his team have come out to Australia numerous times too.

RR: In terms of delivery — where is the project currently at?

CDC: Civil works are complete, the golf course is complete and the private residential clubhouse, gymnasium, bar and lounge, resort pool and tennis court is under construction and due for completion later this year. The estate landscaping is also well underway and the first tranche of 20 homes are under construction too — we’re hoping to have the site open for inspections with the easing of restrictions early next year.

RR: What’s the additional appeal here for a prospective buyer — in regards to what this community and also the region offers?

CDC: People are seeing value in the area — it has everything you need – the open space coupled with the connectivity of the south west rail network. Then there’s the infrastructure that surrounds the future Western Sydney airport and the aerotropolis, core retail, recreation, dining and entertainment, quality private and public education, healthcare and employment opportunities… And it’s only a 45-minute drive to the picturesque beaches of the south coast.

normanestates.com.au; sekisuihouse.com.au

Build-to-rent (BTR) residential property has emerged as one of the key sectors of interest among institutional and private high-net-worth investors across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new report from CBRE. In a survey of 500 investors, BTR recorded the strongest uptick in interest, particularly among investors targeting value-added strategies to achieve double-digit returns.

CBRE said the residential investment sector is set to attract more capital this year, with investors in Japan, Australia and mainland China the primary markets of focus for BTR development. BTR is different from regular apartment developments because the developer or investor–owner retains the entire building for long-term rental income. Knight Frank forecasts that by 2030, about 55,000 dedicated BTR apartments will have been completed in Australia.

Knight Frank says BTR is a proven model in overseas markets and Australia is now following suit.

“Investors are gravitating toward the residential sector because of the perception that it offers the ability to adjust rental income streams more quickly than other sectors in response to high inflation,” Knight Frank explained in a BTR report published in September 2023.

The report shows Melbourne has the most BTR apartments under construction, followed by Sydney. Most of them are one and two-bedroom apartments. The BTR sector is also growing in Canberra and Perth where land costs less and apartment rental yields are among the highest in the country at 5.1 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, according to the latest CoreLogic data.

In BTR developments, there is typically a strong lifestyle emphasis to encourage renters to stay as long as possible. Developments often have proactive maintenance programs, concierges, add-on cleaning services for tenants, and amenities such as a gym, pool, yoga room, cinema, communal working spaces and outdoor barbecue and dining areas.

Some blocks allow tenants to switch apartments as their space needs change, many are pet-friendly and some even run social events for residents. However, such amenities and services can result in BTR properties being expensive to rent. Some developers and investors have been given subsidies to reserve a portion of BTR apartments as ‘affordable homes’ for local essential services workers.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee says Australian BTR is a long way behind the United States, where five percent of the country’s rental supply is owned by large companies. She says BTR is Australia’s “best bet” to raise rental supply amid today’s chronic shortage that has seen vacancy rates drop below 1% nationwide and rents skyrocket 40% over the past four years.

Nerida Conisbee says the BTR market is Australia’s ‘best bet’ for addressing the housing crisis.

Ms Conisbee says 84 percent of Australian rental homes are owned by private landlords, typically mum and dad investors, and nine percent are owned by governments. “With Australia currently in the midst of a rental crisis, the question of who provides rental properties needs to be considered,” Ms Conisbee said. “We have relied heavily on private landlords for almost all our rental properties but we may not be able to so readily in the future.” She points out that large companies can access and manage debt more easily than private landlords when interest rates are high.

The CBRE report shows that Asia-Pacific investors are also interested in other types of residential properties. These include student accommodation, particularly in high migration markets like Australia, and retirement communities in markets with ageing populations, such as Japan and Korea. Most Asia Pacific investors said they intended to increase or keep their real estate allocations the same this year, with more than 50 percent of Australian respondents intending to invest more.

Sekisui House Is On Course For A Win

We explore Sekisui House’s unparalleled Norman Estates at Gledswood Hills.

Savvy high net worth players from Australia and Asia are getting on board as the residential landscape shifts