Lendlease expands Flagstaff Gardens holding with $203m deal
Lendlease has made a tactical office purchase, picking up 469 La Trobe Street, opposite Flagstaff Gardens, from Swiss Re.
The buyer already owns the building next door – 485 La Trobe St – which spreads a 3493 square metre site.
Amalgamated with the newest purchase, it now controls 5146 sqm – zoned Capital City 1 – and offering significant development upside.
Swiss Re, via a mandate managed by AMP Capital, paid Singapore’s Trust Capital Advisors (TCA) $160.5m for 469 La Trobe St in 2017.
It is selling to Lendlease’s Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial (APPF) for $203m.
CBRE’s Kiran Pillai and Scott McGlone with JLL’s Luke Billiau, Simon Storry and James Holdsworth were the agents.
469 La Trobe Street
TCA – for its CMIB-Trust Capital Australian Office Fund No 1 – paid $84m for 469 La Trobe St in 2011.
The 19-level tower contains 19,860 sqm of area.
Law firm Russell Kennedy, which has occupied for more than 20 years, has naming rights (story continues below).
Last week, we reported three New South Wales properties held by Swiss Re – 50 and 60 Carrington St in the city and 32 Walker St in North Sydney – traded for $450m to EG Funds.
Lendlease on office buying spree
Lendlease, for APPF, paid CLSA Capital Partners $181.65m for 485 La Trobe St in 2013.
With two towers, the tallest at 21 levels, that office, with naming rights to Slater & Gordon, contains 33,500 sqm of area.
The buyer is presently understood to be in due diligence to buy a half stake in EY’s Sydney headquarters, at 200 George St, for $575m.
In December, it acquired a quarter of that city’s 1 Farrer Place from GPT for $584.6m – the June, 2020, book value – a deal which meant it controlled half the property (Dexus holds the balance).
Earlier this month, Tony Lombardo took over Lendlease’s chief executive role.
His outgoing position – Asia CEO – was filled by Justin Gabbani.