Centurion chases upside Down Under with premium student housing brand amid plans to list new Reit

Straits Times

15-07-2025

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Epiisod Macquarie Park will be the first in a new line of student accommodations launched on July 15 by Centurion Corporation.
SYDNEY – An infinity pool, sauna and even exclusive work opportunities. These are just some of the perks residents of an upcoming student accommodation development in Sydney can expect come early 2026.
Epiisod Macquarie Park will be the first in a new line of student accommodations launched on July 15 by Singapore Exchange-listed Centurion Corporation, featuring upmarket, wellness-focused amenities.
The launch of the new Epiisod brand is part of a wider effort by Centurion to accelerate earnings growth and free up capital for more investments, the company told Singapore reporters it hosted in Sydney on July 15.
It comes after Centurion announced a new real estate investment trust (Reit) called Centurion Accommodation Reit, for which it had applied with regulators in June to list on the SGX mainboard.
The company revealed in a July 14 bourse filing the properties it will divest as sponsor of the Reit, which is still pending listing approval from SGX and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The new Reit will comprise 14 properties: five purpose-built worker accommodation assets in Singapore, eight purpose-built student accommodation assets in Britain, and one in Australia.
That portfolio is valued at around $1.8 billion, but is expected to rise to $2.1 billion upon the deferred acquisition of Epiisod Macquarie Park, which is slated to join the Reit as the 15th property once ready for occupation.
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Centurion chief executive Kong Chee Min described the Reit as a 'real asset-light strategy', as it allows the company to retain units in the Reit rather than directly owning the underlying properties.
This, he added, enables capital recycling without having to resort to one-off property sales or equity fundraising that would be dilutive to Centurion's existing shareholders.
Centurion plans to distribute some Reit units to shareholders as a dividend in specie on top of regular dividends after its 2026 annual general meeting, and aims to retain a 35 to 40 per cent stake in the Reit thereafter.
Asked how Centurion decides which properties will go into the Reit, Mr Kong said: 'I would say, most of it, if it's suitable, we'll put into the Reit.'
Centurion Accommodation Reit will also be able to acquire properties directly.
The Reit's portfolio, meanwhile, is expected to consist largely of completed projects with a longer land tenure in developed markets, such as Australia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
As for the Reit's mix of student and worker accommodation assets, Mr Kong said both segments have long been part of Centurion's business and complement each other within the portfolio .
Student accommodation is a very resilient market segment that tends to have much longer land tenures than property for housing workers, he added.
Mr Kong added that Centurion will continue operating its existing student accommodation brand, Dwell, alongside Epiisod.
Without disclosing figures, Mr Kong said Dwell would be priced around the market median for student accommodation, while Epiisod rooms would be positioned at a higher tier.
There is no Dwell property in Sydney yet, but checks by The Straits Times show that a room costs around AU$400 (S$336) per person each week at Dwell Village Melbourne City.
Moving forward, the company has no plans to focus on one brand over the other for student property.
That said, Mr Kong added that the new projects Centurion is currently working on happen to be at sites that can be better developed as Epiisod properties.
Meanwhile, any acquisitions will likely come under the mainstream Dwell brand, as it may not be feasible to refurbish existing buildings for an Epiisod offering, he added.
Located steps from Macquarie University, Epiisod Macquarie Park will have 732 single rooms up for offer and available for registration from July 15 onwards.
At least four more Epiisod properties are planned across Melbourne and Perth, with plans for the Reit to take ownership once they are developed.
Centurion will also explore expanding to the Middle East and Europe, Mr Kong said.
Centurion shares closed over 1.1 per cent higher, at $1.77 on July 15.