A new, sustainability-focused healthcare property fund has secured two major investors keen to kick start new standards in clean energy for hospitals and other medical facilities.
Australian Ethical Investment and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will be significant investors in the Healthcare Wholesale Property Fund (HWPF) - an unlisted fund owned by real estate group Dexus.
The HWPF has $370 million in seed assets including Adelaide's Calvary Hospital and GP Plus Health Care centre, and Dexus has flagged a further $445 million in pipeline opportunities, including the North Shore Hub in Sydney and a new medical research facility in Adelaide.
The fund, which will own Australia's first portfolio of hospital and healthcare assets to have an environmentally sustainable development focus, aims to reduce emissions by 45 per cent in both new and existing buildings and targets a portfolio of net zero carbon outcomes in the long term.
Australian Ethical chief investment officer David Macri said healthcare property was an "attractive sector" due to its strong operators and long lease terms.
"These qualities are increasingly in demand by institutional investors, and we anticipate that this will continue in line with how the sector has evolved overseas," Mr Macri said.
"This opportunity also enables us to diversify from our current sole exposure to commercial property."
CEFC property sector lead Chris Wade said the healthcare sector is well suited to benefit from clean energy investments and that improving energy efficiency is long overdue.
"Healthcare facilities typically use far more energy than standard office buildings because they operate for extended hours, have high hot water consumption, and extensive air conditioning and specialist medical equipment requirements," Mr Wade said.
"Our goal is to catalyse new standards in energy efficiency and clean energy in this energy-intensive part of the economy, while also accelerating sustainability in the healthcare sector."
