Australia has emerged as a highly lucrative market for timber-based build-to-rent mid-rise and high-rise projects, with MODEL becoming the newest and, to date, most ambitious developer to propose a 17-storey, 200-apartment tower in Abbotsford, inner-city Melbourne, a short distance from T3 Collingwood.
As reported by the Urban Developer overnight, the new 6-Star Green Star and 9-Star NatHERS-rated development will become Australia’s tallest mass timber residential building and the first large-scale apartment building in Melbourne to be certified to passive house standards.
Wood Central understands that the plans are before the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, which is looking to use faster and lighter construction materials to deliver on its ambitious housing plans – with MODEL engaging Frasers and Partners as architects, Hip V Hype as sustainability consultants, and BG & E as structural engineers.
MODEL is Australia’s first purpose-first build-to-rent development group -now looking to “flip the script on old ways of living and being” – which last year developed a White Paper, “Tomorrow’s Too Late, the case for regenerative decarbonisation in the Australian built-to-rent industry.”
“We bring a bold voice to rental housing by playing in a largely unexplored space: the intersection of socially and environmentally responsible housing,” according to MODEL. “Our projects – designed for Passive House certification, with mass timber construction, and a 6 Green Star rating – are poised to set a global benchmark in reducing emissions.”
“By integrating our three core pillars—Passive House Certification, Mass Timber Construction, and a 6 Star Green Star Rating—we are actively contributing to a future where buildings reduce emissions and enhance the well-being of both people and the planet.”
As per the Urban Developer report, the project is the first in the development pipeline, with a high concentration in Melbourne’s inner north, one of Australia’s fastest-growing areas. According to Rory Hunter, MODEL’s CEO, the developer’s goal is to deliver 5,000 new build-to-rent units by 2030, with more projects to be announced in the coming weeks.
Build-to-rent projects are now targeted as a major growth industry for mass timber-based construction, with mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings the new sweet spot for hybrid timber systems.
In April, Japanese forest giant Sumitomo Forestry announced that it was “build to rent” capacity in the Australian market after announcing a $1.2 billion partnership with Australian-based Cedar Pacific to develop projects in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Auckland.
The first project, now under construction, is at 50 Quay Street in Brisbane, involving a 475-unit project built by Hutchison Builders under the Queensland Government’s affordable BTR program.
In recent years, build-to-rent has been identified as a solution to the housing crisis. In April, Wood Central reported that more than 60 build-to-rent projects are either planned or under construction, adding 20,000 new units to the Australian housing supply chain.
- To learn more about the Australian built-to-rent opportunity, including Australia’s largest Princes Trust project, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
