This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PRO-INVEST is plotting to capture the growing market of Gen Z and Millennials “who don’t like to be tied down”, and is planning a “flex-living” portfolio of assets that would ultimately grow to 6,000 keys in Australia, and could see the adaptive re-use of old hotels and office buildings.
Pro-invest is currently in discussions with investors to raise funding to support the development of a network of flex-living assets across the country.
“In flex-living, there is no fixed model. The same goes for the guest’s length of stay, which is flexible to suit the different needs of different target audiences, from young professionals to fly-in fly-out workers, expats moving to a new city, digital nomads or anyone who doesn’t like to be tied down to long-term commitments,” Tim Sherlock, managing director Pro-invest Developments, told Australian Property Journal.
Pro-invest will aim to foster a “community experience” at the flex-living assets with shared spaces such as gyms, co-working areas, and communal areas, catering to a rising number of people who value flexibility and social interaction.
“The term flex-living doesn’t only apply to what happens inside a building, but also in terms of the kind of buildings that can be utilised for this new urban lifestyle. It will be transformed hotel assets, older commercial office buildings left behind in the post-COVID flight to quality thematic, or well-located new build properties,” Sherlock added.
Pro-invest currently has circa $3 billion in assets under management, which comprises 30 standing and pipeline hotel assets. In the first phase of its flex-living rollout it is looking to deliver and operate a portfolio 2,000 units, with a longer-term target to scale the platform to around 6,000 keys.
Pro-invest’s fully integrated platform, which takes in development, operations, and active asset management, will see the flex-living projects managed across the entire life cycle.
“Given the forecast of a material undersupply of accommodation and the increased pressure on the economic viability of build-to-rent projects that were being relied upon to meet increased demand, this supply deficit may increase significantly,” Sherlock said.
“As a result, the opportunity for flex-living is scalable across Australia.”
Pro-invest believes its assets will be best located in or near CBDs and suburban locations, especially on the east coast, where guests are looking for “smaller, self-contained spaces with access to high quality facilities, amenities, and services”.
“Proximity of transport infrastructure will also be key to ensure connectivity to key demand drivers,” Sherlock said.
“The clear point of difference offered by flex-living means it will not compete directly with build-to-sell apartments that are delivered over coming years by initiatives proposed by governments such as the Transport Oriented Development program in NSW.”
Sabine Schaffer, co-founder of Pro-invest and CEO Europe, said, “We see flex-living as one of the fastest growing sub-segments of the multi-family sector as councils globally see the offering of smaller and more flexible accommodation solutions a way to take pressure off more people wanting to be in urban environments.
“In Europe specifically, co-living has been around for a couple of years and hence we already see a number of institutional parties allocating funds into the segment, but we see that in Australia a flex-living model is better suited.”
