A cornerstone investment from Brightlight Investment Management will help specialist disability housing provider DPN Casa Capace to further develop their specialist disability accommodation.
Part of DPN Group, an award-winning property and financial services enterprise, DPN Casa Capace is a registered provider with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The investment is expected to address the severe shortage of appropriate housing solutions for NDIS participants across Australia. Australian superannuation fund Christian Super has catalysed this investment via the Brightlight Real Estate Impact Fund to develop architecturally designed disabled housing built by DPN Casa Capace in order to help meet the estimated $6 billion+ equivalent of disability housing required across Australia.
With this investment, DPN Casa Capace aims to scale their multi-dwelling home disability housing model to more than 750 homes in five years.
The DPN Casa Capace pilot, under construction in south-west Sydney’s Oran Park, is expected to be completed in November.
DPN Casa Capace will initially construct 25 disability homes, valued at around $40 million in locations determined by NDIS-participant demand. Brightlight Real Estate Impact Fund will have equity in the properties, and the investment will be fully committed to projects by the end of 2019. These houses are designed to provide Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) for 140 NDIS participants, including those with complex needs.
DPN Casa Capace also has plans to scale the venture to more than $1 billion or 750 homes across Australia with the support of new investors. As the NDIS-registered SDA provider, DPN will not only be responsible for operating the homes but will also manage the properties, in conjunction with Supported Independent Living (SIL) providers such as The Northcott Society.
Sam Khalil, DPN founder and group managing director says: “DPN Casa Capace is not only headed by housing specialists with decades of experience in property investment and construction, it is leading the design for disability housing in Australia. This has been very attractive to investors. While much of the investment to date in the SDA sector has been in apartment living, we are creating single-level, multi-dwelling houses which look like contemporary, well-designed family homes. The investment will help us to scale our housing solution to meet the growing demand for SDA, providing beautiful homes and quality living for Australians with disabilities.”
Brightlight's chief operating officer Matthew Zschech says: “The direct impact of this investment into purpose built NDIS residential homes, will significantly improve the quality of life of up to 140 NDIS participants. We’re also excited by the positive impact on their extended family, who are often the primary care givers. We believe the high quality of the DPN Casa Capace management team, its proven development capability and operational integrity, position them well to scale this offering.
"There's clear alignment between our investors and Brightlight Group's mission to have a transformative impact on the world’s most marginalised people, with a vision for scalable life changing solutions. We see this as a compelling opportunity to support the development of modern social infrastructure that not only benefits the individuals and families who require it but demonstrates how we can work in partnership with a wide variety of organisations to increase impact performance while strengthening our social fabric."
"It’s our hope that the quality of this investment, together with the significant improvement in the wellbeing and quality of life experienced by the tenants, will encourage other institutional investors to participate in solving this challenge of providing housing solutions to some of the most vulnerable people in our society."
