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Australia: Hotel giant Accor is moving in to living sector management through a partnership with Freecity, a volumetric modular construction (VMC) specialist.
Accor will manage Freecity’s build-to-rent (BTR) and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) assets, covering leasing, marketing, building operations, resident services, community programming and amenity operations. This is the first time Accor has expanded beyond hotels and serviced apartments into purpose-built rental housing.
“Accor is one of the world’s great hospitality businesses, and what they bring to this partnership, across service-oriented management, supply chain, food and beverage and resident rewards programmes, will fundamentally change how people experience rental living,” said Lawrence Zheng, Freecity’s co-founder and CEO.
Adrian Williams, Accor’s COO in the Pacific region, added: “As the leading operator of serviced apartments in the Pacific region with more than 125 extended stay properties, expanding into the living sector is a natural and highly strategic evolution for Accor. By partnering with Freecity, we are excited to bring our deep hospitality expertise, operational scale, and premium service standards directly to modern rental communities.”
Together, Accor and Freecity will work to create inclusive and sustainable communities where residents feel a sense of belonging.
Freecity currently has three PBSA projects under construction in Sydney: at Macquarie Park, Forest Lodge and Rockdale, totalling 763 units. Once completed, the Macquarie Park development will be the tallest VMC building in Australia at 20 levels.
Additionally, Freecity has received development approval to develop three residential towers in Rouse Hill, which include 332 BTR apartments and 216 coliving studios. The company is also finalising the development application for a 2.2 hectare mixed-used property near Sydney Olympic Park.
“We believe the next generation of housing should combine the efficiency of advanced manufacturing with the service and experience of great hospitality,” Freecity’s founder Jerry Huang said. “This partnership with Accor is an important step towards that vision — creating places that are built differently and lived in differently.”
Highlights:
- Accor has been appointed living sector management partner for Australian modular construction company Freecity, marking the hospitality group’s first expansion beyond hotels and serviced apartments into purpose-built rental housing
- Accor will manage Freecity’s build-to-rent (BTR) and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) assets, covering leasing, marketing, building operations, resident services, community programming and amenity operations
- Freecity has three PBSA developments under construction in Sydney, in Macquarie Park, Forest Lodge and Rockdale, totalling 763 units. Its Macquarie Park project will reach 20 levels and is planned to become Australia’s tallest volumetric modular construction (VMC) building
- Freecity also has approval for three residential towers in Rouse Hill, comprising 332 BTR apartments and 216 coliving studios, and is progressing a development application for a 2.2-hectare mixed-use site near Sydney Olympic Park
