Former ‘Bond Tower’ trades for $340m
Lendlease and Realside are picking up one of Perth’s most prominent office skyscrapers – developed in the late 1980s by Alan Bond, who also occupied the top three floors – for $339.75 million.
Brookfield is the vendor – it picked up 108 St Georges Terrace in two halves – the first, in 2007 with its takeover of Multiplex and the balance, four years later, from Stockland as part of a swap for two residential development sites.
About $110m has since been spent on upgrades.
CBRE’s Aaron Desange with JLL’s Simon Storry were the agents.
Stake TBC
Lendlease will hold its stake – potentially up to 75 per cent – in its near new Real Estate Partners 4 fund; with a $1.5 billion mandate, it has been particularly acquisitive this year.
Realside meanwhile will also control its interest – between 25-50pc – in a single asset trust, the Realside 108 St Georges Terrace Fund, which has since September been seeking investors, promising a high 7.9pc annual cash distribution.
The fund strategy, it said, is to take advantage of short-term market mispricing and “to acquire the property at a highly attractive price relative to recent comparables”.
Yesterday, we reported Lendlease and Brookfield are part of opposing consortiums vying for a government contract to build two skyscrapers over Hunter Street Metro, in Sydney.
Big names
Over 51 floors and incorporating the c1897 Palace Hotel, 108 St George Tce contains 37,291 square metres of A-grade office space.
The historic building also contains a café and restaurant – part of the asset’s 987 sqm of retail – and conference facilities (story continues below).
BHP spin-off South32 is an anchor, for 8300 sqm, on a lease expiring in 2026.
Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright also rent in the tower.
Architect Woods Bagot meanwhile occupies the hotel component where it also has signage rights.
There are 103 car parks, 187 bike racks and 25 showers too.
The building was known as Alan Bond’s lair, or Bond Tower, until he vacated in 1991.
“This is a great acquisition for the REP4 portfolio,” Lendlease Investment Management head of Private Equity, Paul Snushall, said.
“We’re keen to enhance 108’s ground plane and end of trip facilities, along with creating quality fitted suites” according to the executive.
The acquisition comes nine months since the fund, backing Marquette Properties, paid Dexus a headline $420m for Brisbane’s 12 Creek Street, otherwise known as the Blue Tower.
In September, the trust outlaid $300m for two Melbourne offices including 440 Collins Street, offloaded by the Werdiger family after 24 years.
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