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SCAPE Living has secured a Brisbane site for $13.5 million for its second student accommodation project in the city.
The UK-based business has been making strides in Australia, after snapping up locations in Melbourne and Sydney for its student halls.
The latest site in Toowong has development approval for a 15 storey residential apartment project, with construction underway for a $160 million student hall on Vulture Street.
Colliers International agents Brendan Hogan and Hunter Higgins negotiated the off-market deal on behalf of Ross McKinnon of State Development Corporation.
Higgins says he sold the site to McKinnon back in 2013 for $5.1 million as of a Colliers expression of interest campaign.
"The vendor originally bought the property to lease the office space in the short term, with a potential to develop in the long term," Higgins says.
"This is an outstanding result for them considering the value has more than doubled in three years."
Hogan helped Scape to find its first student accommodation site in Brisbane and says Toowong proved to be an attractive option for its proximity to University of Queensland.
"This year UQ St Lucia has been recognised as the second best university in Australia by Academic Ranking of World Universities, which is a big factor in drawing both local and international students to Brisbane," Hogan says.
"The market for development sites in Brisbane is still active, and as we have seen in this case, there is potential for alternative uses other than residential developments.
"In the last 18 months, nine major sites have been sold to student accommodation operators in Brisbane totalling nearly $190 million."
He says Colliers has been involved in five of those transactions valued at about $125 million.
The 1945sqm site at 611 Coronation Drive has 37m frontage to one of Brisbane's busiest CBD connection roads.
Scape Living has more than 1500 student studios across London, with locations in Shoredtich, Greenwich and Surrey.
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