Japanese giant snares Brisbane office
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation is believed to be paying c$300 million for a half stake in a modern Brisbane CBD office.
At 53 Albert Street, the 22 storey building – nine floors of which is a car park – was offered by JP Morgan Asset Management which paid Challenger $250m in 2019.
The 12 level commercial component, all up offering 18,694 square metres of A-grade space, is leased to the state government for six years.
There is also 365 sqm of ground floor retail, tenanted to car rental groups Avis and Budget, BWS and a café, Atomic Albert.
The 531 bay car park – on which the office was developed in 2009 – is rented to First Parking for eight years.
The site spreads 2322 sqm, at the corner of Margaret St, a block from the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.
CBRE’s Bruce Baker, Flint Davidson and Stuart McCann were the agents.
The deal comes a week since Growthpoint sold RAM Asset Management 333 Ann St, in the city, for $141.1m.
Melbourne based Shakespeare Property Group is also investing in the Queensland capital this month – speculated to be paying $66m for 500 Queen St, from GWC Property.
Surrounded by government occupiers
Challenger acquired 53 Albert St from a syndicate represented by accountant Earl Larmar – outlaying $200m – in 2014 (story continues below).
At the time the government had just signed a lease agreement offering a high 51pc incentive – said to be worth $33m over the term.
With a 5.5 star NABERS rating, the office has 1470 sqm column-free floorplates.
It also offers Brisbane River and City Botanic Gardens views.
Some 60pc of the city’s government occupied space – including Parliament House – is within 500 metres, the agents said upon listing.
“With major infrastructure and development projects underway – including the Cross River Rail, Albert Street Station across the road and the Queens Wharf development within 250m – 53 Albert St is positioned to benefit from more than $12 billion of nearby projects,” they added.
NTT Co invests again
The Brisbane purchase comes two and a half years since NTT Co paid Australian Unity $72m, reflecting a 4.92pc yield – for an office in Melbourne’s inner north Carlton part leased to the Environment Protection Authority.
The group also has an extensive low density housing estate portfolio in the Victorian capital, including in joint ventures with Yourland.
In February, the company announced a partnership with Australia based Macquarie Asset Management to build a c$1.25 billion data centre portfolio across Europe and the United States.
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