Australian superannuation fund, Aware Super formed a strategic partnership with Delancey to invest up to an initial £1 billion in UK real estate
Established in 2024, the strategy aims to invest into UK real estate by identifying sectors and assets to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to Aware Super’s 1.1 million members.
Initially concentrating on office properties in prime locations in Central London, exploring opportunities in high-quality, undervalued UK retail, logistics, and mixed-use properties, is also part of the partnership’s strategy.
The strategy will focus on sustainability, data-driven decisions and behavioural change, especially as it relates to decarbonisation, and reflect this throughout the lifecycle of an investment, from acquisition to management and divestment.
The partnership aims to acquire stabilised assets, fund development projects, and assist with the recapitalisation of existing capital structures. It will consider single asset, portfolio, and corporate acquisitions.
In the first six months, the DARE platform acquired three super-prime office-buildings in central London for a combined value of c. £500 million.
DARE’s maiden acquisitions capitalised on the dislocation in the capital markets and the favourable supply-demand imbalance of the occupational markets, which drove unprecedented levels of rental growth for best-in-class offices in London.
The maiden investments comprised of three prime office assets in Mayfair, Marylebone and the City of London – all situated on garden squares and near Elizabeth Line stations.
The first acquisition was 20 Manchester Square in Marylebone, a recently completed new-build development and the new UK headquarters for Lazard which signed a 15-year lease agreement.
This purchase was followed by the acquisition of 11-12 Hanover Square in Mayfair, a trophy mixed-use building developed in 2017, offering both diversification and exposure to the West End’s premier office market and Oxford Street, the UK’s busiest retail thoroughfare.
The third transaction was the off-market acquisition of Finsbury Circus House, a 150,000 sq. ft. office building near Liverpool Street station. Re-developed in 2013, the asset had been held in the same institutional ownership for over 30 years.
The deal built on our pre-existing partnership with Aware Super who own a 22% stake in Get Living, the UK’s leading owner and operator of large-scale build-to-rent neighbourhoods, which was founded by Delancey.
The partnership continues to look for opportunities to deploy capital into UK real assets, driving risk-adjusted returns to Aware Super’s 1.2 million members.