The AUS$177 million residence sees Student One open its third location within Brisbane and deliver on plans to establish itself within the city before expanding elsewhere.

“We tend to find there’s a lot of demand from students who really want to be where the action is”

“It was always the intention from the very beginning to establish a strong foothold in Brisbane,” said Student One chief executive Tim Weston.

“It was a commitment we made probably four years ago, that the intention was to have three properties. That was a very clear goal that we had.”

Comprised of dual 23-storey and 25-storey towers, the new residence sees Student One expand its offering to 2,400 student beds throughout Brisbane’s CBD.

Speaking with The PIE News, Weston said his company had targeted sites within the city centre rather than inner suburbs after research indicated most students were looking for centrally located accommodation options.

“Traditionally, a lot of students have wanted to live on campus, and that was the way accommodation was originally set up, particularly by universities,” he said.

“Students nowadays have to fund their accommodation a lot of the time, they have to fund their education, they need to get jobs, they’re looking for a [particular] lifestyle.

“We tend to find there’s a lot of demand from students who really want to be where the action is.”

Weston said the company would now look towards other locations, adding their market research had indicated PBSAs worked best within Australia’s major capital cities.

“Our goal has always been to expand, to build the brand… but we’re not going to rush into it. We’ll assess opportunities as they come along,” he said.

A recent report from Savills found Australia had a full-time student-to-bed ratio double that of the US and more than triple that of the UK.