Commercial and residential property news
It was once the heart of the citys financial centre, and is said to occupy the best position on Collins Street. But for almost fifteen years, the former Australian Stock Exchange Melbourne headquarters at 357 Collins Street has sat derelict and vacant.
Read moreGE Real Estate Group is trying its luck to sell a B-grade office building overlooking the Carlton Gardens – again. GE
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LAST year, by and large, residential landlords were the investors best able to reap the rewards of a short supply, by boosting their rents.
This year however, may be year of the office landlord.
According to a new report by commercial real estate agency Colliers International, office rental costs are expected to increase in most capital cities, because of a shortage of new supply and an improving economy.
It expects office vacancies to fall in all major CBD office markets expect Brisbane (which already has a high 9.6 per cent vacancy).
Read moreADMINISTRATORS for failed property group Record Realty should make about $95 million from the sale of two Melbourne office buildings,
Read moreQUEENSLAND-based developer Devine Property Group, now backed by Leighton Holdings, has shelved plans for a $300 million office building in central Brisbane, citing the economic downturn.
The 37-level, 33,000 square metre office building was to have started construction in the middle of last year, and be complete in 2011. However evidence is emerging that the once-darling Brisbane CBD office market is oversupplied, meaning the project could be deferred for a long period, or shelved completely.
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UNLISTED property giant Investa has put up for sale two more CBD office buildings for sale, one in each of Sydney and Melbourne.
In Sydney, the group will sell a 32-level office building at 312 – 322 Pitt Street. The 29,159 square metre, A-grade building includes 29 levels of offices, ground floor retail and a shared loading dock with a neighbouring building.
The Pitt Street building is expected to sell for about $200 million.
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MELBOURNE builder Grocon is expected to unveil itself as the owner of two prominent city development sites, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.
Grocon is expected to confirm it will pay between $35 million and $40 million for the former “shop of shops” experiment at 171 Collins Street, in the Melbourne CBD. That site is earmarked for a controversial 17-level, $260 million office building which needed to be approved by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year.
VCAT’s approval ended a long-serving Melbourne CBD planning arrangement, whereby buildings around the Swanston Street core would be height restricted.
Read moreTHE federal Liberal Party has taken a 12-month lease for about 1650 sq m of office space at 120 Collins Street. The space became available earlier this year after Citibank reorganised its office occupation, shrinking its occupancy in the premium-grade building from four levels to three.
Read moreLess than a week after winning a $150 million contract to operate Victoria’s controversial traffic camera system, British-based Serco is in the market for more office space, and quickly.
Read moreMeanwhile, on the other side of the Yarra River, Herald and Weekly Times has formally come to the market with an 18,000 square metre office leasing requirement – the third biggest in Melbourne at the moment.
Read moreThe Valad Property group is believed to have abandoned plans to buy the 469 La Trobe Street office building, after concerns the $80 million price it offered for the asset was too high.
Read moreValad Property Group is believed to have paid around $80 million to buy the 469 LaTrobe Street office building in the Melbourne CBD, off Investa Property Group.
Read moreTHE high profile campaign to sell a half share interest in Sydney’s landmark One Martin Place office building may be off the table.
The two Macquarie trusts which owns the asset, are reported to be holding onto the office tower, which is used as Macquarie’s headquarters. The building’s entire value fell from $530 million to $485 million in December, according to Macquarie. It was hoping to achieve more than $200 million for a half share, but has failed.
Macquarie has a $128.9 million debt expiry at the end of August.
Read moreOrchard Funds Management is believed to be close to selling its B-grade Collins Street office building for $54 million.
The Citibank Centre, at 350 Collins Street, is a 50-year old, 15-level building with 17,800 square metres of office space, 96 per cent of which is occupied.
The building returns about $5.4 million in annual rent, and at a sale price of $54 million, would trade on a yield of 10 per cent.
In what is sure to be a litmus test following a bout of sharemarket volatility, the Challenger Premier Hybrid Property Fund will sell the 330 Collins Street office building it has owned for seven years, in what is the biggest “investment grade” CBD office asset put to the market this year.
Read moreTelecommunications giant Telstra has signed the biggest CBD office lease deal for the year so far, making the unusual move to lease more than 3300 square metres of third-level retail space at Grocon’s QV development, which it will convert to offices.
Read moreMore than a year after selling its 411 King Street headquarters for $5.8 million, the Heart Foundation of Victoria will now become a tenant – leasing 1844 square metres of A-grade office space at 500 Collins Street.
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