Inside Build-To-Rent

Build-To-Rent is a relatively nascent residential living market — one that is quickly moving beyond an ‘emerging’ tag as it spreads out across Australia.

To understand the platform is to comprehend that where standard development equates to the construction of residences to be sold on completion, BTR developments are held, operated and rented by the developer.

While the premise is straightforward it does present with a number of issues — among them land tax discounts and premium land transfer tax, alongside funding and consumer uptake issues that have caused it to stutter in its national rollout.

Where the BTR industry in Australia continues to find its footing as a fresh consideration, BTR has been delivered and engaged in US markets for the best part of 40 years. Elsewhere, European markets such as London — which has expanded rapidly in alignment with federal government support since 2013 — has around 28,000 BTR properties completed, 16,000 under construction and 38,000 in planning, according to Statista research.

Local experts such as Craig Godber, CBRE’s Associate Director, Head of Residential and Build-To-Rent Research Australia indicates that local trepidation may be more a case of ‘seeing is believing’ amongst prospective consumers.

“I think that Australians have always partly accepted that there’s either owning a home or private renting, and it’ll take a few successful projects before a gradual uptake by renters is made,” said Godber.

Where BTR differs from traditional renting is in its want to retain renters across extended periods and through a number of additional services such as dedicated concierge services, mail rooms, meeting rooms and mixed-use office spaces.

Further, with one central controlling body overseeing each building operation, BTR offers flexible long-term tenancies, client-centric onsite management as well as appealing allowances in rewards to personalisation (painting and decorating) and pets.

The caveat is that more lifestyle services means increased outlay.

“There is the expectation that rents in BTR developments will be higher as opposed to the private market, and that may take some time for the consumer adjust to,” added Godber.

The premium services offered by BTR have dispelled early market fears about it being rebranded social housing.

“That perception existed early on, particularly as the developments are purpose built, but as people and investors continue to learn about it that stigma fades away.”

Godber is increasingly optimistic about the future, buoyed by with a number of projects by renowned operators Mirvac and Grocon and an expansive market being further fed by various overseas developers.

Sydney and Melbourne remain key with the Victorian capital outpacing the northern city’s pipeline by almost double, according to research from Knight Frank.

The number of BTR apartments in Melbourne’s planning currently sits at 6000, well ahead of Sydney’s 3300 and Brisbane’s 1600.

11.1% of development sites purchased in 2020 in Melbourne were earmarked for high-density, BTR projects while in Sydney that figure was 0.7%.

Despite the recent interest and development proposals in the pipeline uptake is still expected to be rather gradual when compared to the recent explosions in popularity of BTR in Europe.

Godber indicates that further government assistance and incentive, aligned to increased interest at an institutional investor level will help BTR continue to grow across Australia.

“Financial models, the combination of better taxation and the structuring of funds as institutional investment vehicles for build-to-rent are all essential to seeing the sector continue to grow.”

A 110-year-old Colorado estate that has hosted Frank Sinatra and Lyndon B. Johnson just slashed $10 million off its price tag.

The 12,000-square-foot manor house—with 25 rooms—and its five accessory dwelling in the alpines of Evergreen was relisted on Friday asking $16.8 million, down from its initial $26.8 million price in 2023.

The sellers, Richard and Pamela Bard, who paid $1.3 million for the “legacy property” named Greystone Estate in 1992, have shopped it around on and off for the past 20 years, according to agent Jessica Northrop at Compass Real Estate.

Richard Bard, CEO of his own private equity firm, has “hosted many corporate events and retreats where important business is discussed but they are also able to relax,” Northrop said. “Greystone has a special way of making people feel at ease.”

Bard said “it’s not a casual effort” to sell. He said it’s difficult to find a buyer with the facilities to “take care of it.”

The Bards intend to move closer to their children in Denver.

Before the Bards, Greystone Estate had several eras—as a summer house, a guest ranch and a business base—since it was built in 1915 by Genevieve Phipps, an industrialist’s daughter.

Phipps, who spent her inheritance on the land, built the 54-acre summer escape with the “elegance and feel of a fine Adirondack mansion combined with a mountain rustic style,” according to an online record of the estate’s history.

Its heyday, arguably in the 1940s to 1980s, saw Sinatra, Johnson and Groucho Marx come through its doors, when its owner William Sandifer, a socialite and one the Empire State Building’s architects, operated a guest ranch out of the place.

The Bards, who used a carriage house on the property as their company headquarters, completed Greystone’s full modernization in 1997. They also opened up the living and dining areas to receive more light, raised the ceiling on the upper level and combined several rooms to create a primary suite.

They replaced an outdoor pavilion and its helipad with something more suitable for their daughter’s wedding in 2001, according to Northrop.

The main 25-room manor includes a wine cellar, bar, gym and library.

The additional structures, which include a cottage, a log cabin, a pool house, a carriage house and a pavilion and guest house, surround the pool area and overlook acres of aspen groves and mountains.

Inside Build-To-Rent

The Australian uptake of the ‘new’ development platform remains dwarfed by overseas expansion — but things are moving.

The 25-room mansion was built for an heiress and later belonged to a socialite and architect on the Empire State Building.