An astute observer (all-right, ’twas CMM) once suggested there’s an inner entrepreneur in Western Australia uni leaders

It certainly seems so at Curtin U, which announces this morning a 35-year $300m development deal with InfraRed Capital Partners which will design, finance, build and operate infrastructure on the Bentley campus. Construction starts in August.

The Exchange project includes 1000 student beds, a hotel, 38 apartments, plus commercial and retail space. Apparently, it will be, “a new urban heart in Perth’s south – a place to meet, learn, work and live, where people come first.”

According to VC Deborah Terry, Exchange is a unique higher-education development, because it, will bring different industries into a “community destination.”

It’s a big idea, which appeals to other universities, Flinders U announced something similar last week, a student and health services development (

CMM, June 4). And guess where Flinders VC Colin Stirling used to work – he was provost at Curtin U.