240 Margaret Street Student Accommodation: Progress Update

RCP has been appointed to provide project management and programming services for the proposed 33-storey purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in Brisbane city.

240 Margaret Street will provide 952 beds for students and include communal spaces, study areas as well as a retail tenancy.

The design comprises a 33-storey residential tower over a three-level “green” podium with double height ground level and a layered façade.

Designed to achieve a 5-star Green Star rating, the tower will have several areas devoted to outdoor space throughout the podium levels plus a rooftop sky terrace with an expansive outdoor recreation terrace with integrated landscaping.

A single basement level would provide parking for bikes only, and house all the back of house facilities and services.

Designed by COX Architecture for joint-venture partners Citiplan and Brookfield Asset Management, the tower will feature a subtropical living environment in the heart of Brisbane.

Brookfield’s co-head of Australia real estate Ruban Kaneshamoorthy recently commented, “Education is Australia’s fourth biggest export,”

“We have the third-highest number of enrolled international students globally but limited high-quality purpose-built student accommodation in our capital cities relative to other education hubs. This provides an enormous opportunity, and we view student accommodation as one of the best ways to invest in the living sector in Australia.”

“Student accommodation also has a role to play in helping ease Australia’s housing shortage.”

Construction partner Multiplex initiated main works on-site in mid-2024 and is presently completing the civil and piling foundations. The tower crane is now up and the pouring of the hydrostatic ground slab and completed by the end of 2024.