BP Move to Leave Hole for GPT at Melbourne Central

Things got worse for General Property Trust this week, after petroleum giant BP confirmed it wants out of the Melbourne Central office building, once its lease expires in 2011.

BP is the biggest tenant in the Melbourne Central office building at 360 Elizabeth Street, one of two premium grade buildings the Sydney-based GPT owns in the Melbourne CBD.

Executives at GPT shouldn’t be surprised by the requirement, after BP was apparently caught sniffing around its only Docklands office building, 818 Bourke Street, early last year. GPT had  just lured fellow Melbourne Central tenant Ericsson to relocate to the Docklands building, but had no luck with BP.

GPT is facing mass vacancies at its 530 Collins Street office building, with the ANZ Bank and law firm Allens Arthur Robinson planning to relocate over the next two years – at the same time a rush of new and backfill office space will come to the market.

BP occupies about 10,000 square metres at Melbourne Central, but according to its latest brief, is in the market for 11,500 square metres of A-grade space or better, in the CBD, Southbank and Docklands.

It’s expected usual suspects Lend Lease, Walker Corporation, ING Real Estate and Mirvac will pitch to build BP an office, as well as Australand which is trying to fill Freshwater Place 2, and CBus, which has space in two buildings at its CBW development, to fill.

CB Richard Ellis senior manager – global corporate services, Sally Henderson, is acting for BP.

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