AsheMorgan launches $700m Docklands build-to-rent project

Just a week after Lendlease (ASX: LLC) and Japan's Daiwa House teamed up to develop almost 800 build-to-rent (BTR) apartments in Melbourne Quarter, real estate investment and advisory group AsheMorgan has thrown its hat into the ring to address the Victorian capital's housing shortage.

AsheMorgan has lodged plans for its $700 million-plus Docklands BTR project known as 'District Living' with the state's Minister for Planning, comprising more than 900 apartments across two buildings at 24 Little Docklands Drive.

This compares to 10,000 BTR apartments planned by Scape Australia and its Dutch investment partners to be built around the country by 2030, and 3,650 apartments in the pipeline for a BTR platform led by GURNER and  Qualitas (ASX: QAL).

The project sits adjacent to AsheMorgan’s existing investment,  mixed-use urban precinct The District Docklands, and if all goes to plan construction would start in the second half of 2024.

AsheMorgan development director Mat Stoddart says the project will help cater to the growing demand for high-quality apartments within the suburb.

"Melbourne is facing a significant undersupply of housing over the coming four years; research suggests that there will be an undersupply of around 10,000 residences in 2026 alone," Stoddart says.

"Couple this with a tight rental market and over 67 per cent of the population in Docklands already renting, it is an area ripe for a well-designed BTR development."

"Over 50 per cent of residents within Docklands are aged between 20 and 40 and almost 60 per cent are working as professionals or managers, making them the primary target market for BTR."

Stoddart adds the District Docklands design has families in mind with access to 2,500sqm of private outdoor space including an outdoor dog park and dog wash, an outdoor fitness area, and large green open spaces to relax.

The project, which will include two- and three-bedroom units, will also be all-electric and target a 7.5 NAThers rating.

With North Melbourne train station only 500m away, the group has aspirations of connecting District Living via a footbridge overpass on Footscray Road, to further streamline its connection to transport.