Lendlease in Collins St office play
Lendlease is speculated to be paying $300 million for neighbouring Melbourne CBD offices.
At 440 Collins Street and 459 Little Collins, the properties are being offloaded by the Werdiger family.
They will be held in the Real Estate Partners 4 fund, which launched in January with a $1.5 billion mandate to chase product with development upside.
The buyer is expected to consider a longer-term repurposing.
“The Collins Street assets are a great addition to our portfolio, and we look forward to capitalising on the core location as we bring the Lendlease’s expertise and placemaking skills to [them],” Lendlease head of Private Equity, Investment Management, Paul Snushall, said.
Settlement is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
The acquisition comes a year after Lendlease, for the Australian Prime Property Fund, paid $203m for adjoining CBD offices opposite Flagstaff Gardens.
Lendlease invests again
The Werdiger family’s Juilliard Group paid Jason Yeap c$43m – reflecting a 10 per cent yield – for 440 Collins St in 1998.
Over 17 storeys, formerly known as the Royal Insurance Centre and later, AON House, the asset was developed in 1965 (story continues below).
It contains c19,820 square metres of lettable area.
The 459 Little Collins St property meanwhile contains two components, built in 1969 and 1990.
Rising up to 15 levels and with 9980 sqm, some tenancies have been refurbished.
For years prior to 2019, 440 Collins and 459 Little Collins were co-held with the Lederman family.
Not long earlier, that partnership unsuccessfully attempted to sell them, with the nearby St James Plaza.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Nick Rathgeber and Leigh Melbourne brokered the latest sale.
Their deal comes a year since HThree Property, in its maiden Australian purchase, paid Vantage Property $72.6m for 446 Collins St, in the pocket.
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