About

Conal leads Cushman & Wakefield’s Living Sector across Asia Pacific. He brings over 20 years of specialist experience advising a wide range of public and private sector clients in student accommodation and the broader Living Sectors. He was a leading operator in the UK PBSA market from 2004 to 2012 before relocating to Australia in 2013. Since then, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) market, working with leading operators including Urbanest, Iglu, UniLodge, Scape, Campus Living Villages, Cedar Pacific, and others. Conal has also advised many of Australia’s top universities, such as the University of Sydney, UNSW, UTS, Macquarie University, the University of Melbourne, RMIT, Deakin University, the University of Queensland, and QUT.

Conal’s rare record of success in student accommodation across Australia largely comes from his ability to lead his teams and campaign resources. His expertise and leadership ensures stakeholders receive the best knowledge, most up-to-date insights, and clear advisory through a culture of transparency, professionalism, and proactivity.

In the last five years, Conal’s areas of focus have expanded to now include Co-Living, Multifamily, Seniors Living, and Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) housing.

Education

• MBS (Valuation and Property Management), Massey University, New Zealand
• Registered Real Estate Agent in Force in NSW
• Registered Agent’s Representative in Victoria
• Registered Land Agent in South Australia
• Registered Real Estate sales representative in Western Australia
• Registered Agent’s Representative in Northern Territory
• Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) – Registered Valuer
• Associate Australian Property Institute (AAPI)

Assignments

• Sold and acquired 20,000 beds across the UK, Australia and New Zealand with a combined total price of over AUD $3.5 billion
• Joint sales team lead on the Urbanest Australia Student Accommodation
• Portfolio transaction in 2019 comprising over 7,400 beds across 15 assets that settled in May 2020 for over AUD $2.1 billion
• Sold 192 – 204 A’Beckett Street, Melbourne sold via fund through in two stages for $165million
• Sold 203 North Terrace Adelaide for over AUD $57m on a fund through basis
• Sold Synagogue Place Adelaide on a turnkey basis for over AUD $45m
• Successfully completed UK student accommodation transactions comprising 10,000 bedrooms with total combined project finance value of over GBP £550 million.