Capital advisory and structuring for real estate and social infrastructure, specialising in complex transactions.

Ocean St. Capital Advisers is a principal-led advisory practice delivering capital solutions across the full capital structure, from feasibility and underwriting through to financial close.

Student Accommodation Co-Living Residential for Sale Build to Rent Social, Affordable & Key Worker Housing Healthcare Aged Care & Retirement Childcare Social Infrastructure
25+ years
Across law, funds management and capital advisory
$1B+
Capital raised and structured
Arena REIT
Led platform acquisition, restructure and IPO
Since 2015
Independent, principal-led advisory

Approach

Principal-led

Every engagement is led personally by James Goodwin, from initial structuring through to financial close. No handover to junior teams.

Independent

No balance sheet, product or lender affiliation. Advice is aligned solely to the client's objectives across the capital structure.

Structuring to close

Feasibility, underwriting and financial modelling are built in-house, so the capital solution is tested before it goes to market.

We act for developers, fund managers, institutional and private investors, asset owners, government and community housing providers.

Capabilities

End-to-end advisory across the full capital structure for real estate and social infrastructure transactions.

Capital Raising
Senior, stretch senior, mezzanine, preferred equity and equity, including construction finance, project finance and syndicated facilities.
Underwriting & Feasibility
Due diligence, feasibility studies, investment underwriting, and the generation and audit of detailed financial models.
Structuring
Joint ventures, co-investments and fund formations, including tax and stamp duty structuring informed by legal and corporate finance experience.
M&A, IPOs & Restructuring
Platform acquisitions, mergers, business sales, takeovers, IPOs, recapitalisations, turnarounds and strategic exits.
Negotiation & Execution
End-to-end deal management from origination through financial close across debt, mezzanine, preferred equity and equity.
Board & Advisory Roles
Board, investment committee and responsible manager roles for fund managers and AFSL holders, developers and institutional investors.

Select Transactions

A selection of transactions across the capital structure in real estate and social infrastructure.

Student Accommodation
c. $250M PBSA
Stretch senior and preferred equity for an 800-bed purpose-built student accommodation project.
Capital raising & structuring
Funds Management
$1B+ platform acquisition
Led the acquisition, recapitalisation and exit of the Arena real estate funds management platform for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, including the IPO of Arena REIT.
M&A, restructuring & IPO
Build to Rent
$250M+ mixed-use project
Secured $100M+ equity from Blackstone Real Estate Partners for Beck Property Group's Caulfield Village Stage 3: 437 apartments and 5,000 sqm retail. One of Australia's first institutional BTR transactions.
Equity capital raising & structuring
Build to Rent
c. $175M project finance
Secured project finance for Beck Property Group to fund the delivery and stabilisation of 351 apartments at Caulfield Place.
Project finance & debt structuring
Healthcare
c. $100M healthcare project
Feasibility and investment underwriting for a healthcare development project.
Underwriting & feasibility
Healthcare
$350M+ health hub
Project feasibility and investment underwriting for a 35,000 sqm health hub project.
Feasibility & underwriting
Aged Care
c. $25M preferred equity
Preferred equity funding for an aged care development project.
Preferred equity
Aged Care
c. $100M sale & leaseback
Sale and leaseback of a portfolio of aged care assets to an institutional investor.
Transaction structuring & execution

About

James Goodwin is the founder and director of Ocean St. Capital Advisers. James began his career at Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills), practising in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, before joining Centro Properties Group in senior legal and corporate finance roles.

James subsequently joined Becton Property Group as CEO of Funds Management, before being appointed Joint Managing Director of Arena Investment Management, where he led the acquisition, recapitalisation and IPO of the Arena real estate funds management platform for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing.

James founded Ocean St. Capital in 2015 and has since advised on more than $1B of capital raisings and structured transactions across student accommodation, co-living, residential, healthcare, aged care and social infrastructure. He is a board member of Castlerock Property and co-founder and director of Evolution Athletic Network, a not-for-profit supporting elite junior track and field athletes.

James Goodwin
Director
  • Bachelor of Laws (Hons.), Monash University
  • Master of Applied Finance, Macquarie University
  • 25+ years in real estate corporate finance
  • Former Joint MD, ASX-listed Arena REIT
  • Board member, Castlerock Property
  • Former IC member, Monark Property Partners
  • Co-Founder, Evolution Athletic Network
LinkedIn profile

Insights

Perspectives on capital markets, structuring and investment across the living sectors and social infrastructure.

Living Sectors
Institutional capital and the case for living sector investment in Australia
Low vacancy, structural undersupply and demand from net migration are creating strong conditions for institutional investment in student accommodation, co-living and key worker housing. Delivering appropriate risk-adjusted returns requires innovation across cost, design and affordability for key workers.
Coming soon
Office Conversion
Converting B-grade office to living uses: feasibility, structuring and execution
Persistent vacancy in secondary office markets creates an opportunity to convert underperforming assets to living uses. A look at the feasibility, capital structuring and execution considerations for sponsors and investors.
Coming soon

Contact

James Goodwin
Director, Ocean St. Capital Advisers

Phone
0421 275 525

Email
james.goodwin@oceanadvisory.com.au

Office
Ground Floor, 470 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3004

Ocean St. Capital provides confidential, independent advisory services to clients across the Australian real estate sector. We welcome enquiries from developers, investors, fund managers and capital partners.

General information. This website contains general information only. Nothing on this website constitutes financial product advice, an offer to invest, or a solicitation to acquire any interest in any financial product. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.

Legal and structuring experience. Ocean St. Capital draws on its principal's legal and corporate finance experience to inform advisory engagements. This does not constitute the provision of legal advice or legal services. Clients should obtain independent legal advice in relation to any transaction.

Privacy. Personal information collected through this website or through direct engagement is used solely to provide advisory services and will not be disclosed to third parties without consent, except as required by law.