Global real estate services company JLL have been appointed by UBS Asset Management’s Real Estate Business to undertake leasing, property, marketing and facilities management services for the former Athletes’ Village of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018), as it is transformed into Australia’s first ever large-scale build-to-rent housing scheme, known as Smith Collective.
Incorporating seven hectares of residential and retail precincts, and another seven hectares of parklands and open space, the $550 million Grocon development is nearing completion following use as the Athletes’ Village for GC2018. It features 1,252 dwellings, with a mix of one and two bedroom apartments and three bedroom townhouses, along with a 6.250m2 retail precinct, and seven acres of green space and landscaping built around a ‘village heart’.
This multi-award-winning development is a pilot project for the Green Star Communities sustainability rating tool and has achieved full marks in the areas of ecosystems, waste management, energy, materials and community.
UBS Asset Management Executive Director, Investment Manager, real estate and private markets, Michael Woodrow says the appointment marks an important milestone in the transformation from what was previously home to the Commonwealth Games athletes to a successful residential community and retail hub.
“We are excited to have JLL on board, bringing their worldwide resources and years of experience managing projects of this scale,” says Mr Woodrow.
JLL’s residential lettings team have embarked on an education campaign to reinforce to prospective residents how this pioneering long-term rental scheme offers something refreshingly different from anything else in Australia, with the first residents to be welcomed in early 2019.
