MEDIA RELEASE: Qualitas injects $150m into Tim Gurner’s expansion plans
24 September 2020
Luxury property developer GURNER™ continues to defy the property market, announcing a strategic agreement with Qualitas for an equity allocation of up to $150m as the developer confirms it is bullish on the Australian market and hungry for new sites.
The significant equity allocation by Qualitas will further bolster the developer’s $5.7billion portfolio, with a focus on acquisition opportunities across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and New Zealand.
The current market environment also has GURNER™ weighing up opportunistic purchases in the retail and commercial sectors alongside its residential and mixed-use portfolio.
In the past 12 months the developer has settled three projects worth a combined $300m-plus, achieved permit approval on its massive 10,000sqm, $1b precinct in Fisherman’s Bend, launched Atelier in Collingwood, commenced construction on two major projects Saint Moritz and Victoria and Vine, and acquired a number of off-market sites.
Sensing a higher probability of distressed assets hitting the market over the coming 18 months, GURNER™ commenced discussions with multiple capital partners in February and within six months had signed the deal with Qualitas.
Tim Gurner, founder and director of GURNER™, said the funds – which have already been raised by Qualitas and are ready for deployment as compelling deals present – would fast-track the developer’s plans to take advantage of current market conditions and continue to diversify the developer’s portfolio.
“ Since settling three major developments this year in addition to FV last year, we are in a unique and strong position to not only ride out the downturn but really set ourselves up for the next 10 years, with a strong balance sheet and experience behind us.
“ Our motivation for seeking out a capital partner is to accelerate our ability to purchase, quickly settle and bring multiple sites to market across different asset classes, and diversify at scale over the next few years. A partner like Qualitas who can turn around approvals for deals as we find them and has the capital already raised was key to our decision.
“ We are also keen to build on our portfolio of large-scale multi-staged developments like FV in Brisbane and Saint Mortiz and take part in all of the important government tenders and sites that are usually dominated by the larger, slower moving public companies.
“ With $150million capital available we can act quickly on opportunities and hunt aggressively to identify the right opportunities.
“ We’ll focus closely on Melbourne and Sydney, followed by Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Auckland, with Perth if it feels right.
‘This time a large focus will be on Sydney – we missed the last run on the market so we don’t want to be in that position again and are open to all scale of development in Sydney.
“ The timing feels right with Qualitas and our visions for the future are aligned. We have been fortunate to deliver some incredible projects and our brand is well-established and poised for rapid growth. We have been really impressed with how Qualitas operates and they just feel right for our business,” Tim said.
To view the full article in the Australian Financial Review click here