Major Toowoomba office fetches $10.5 million from local family
Canada’s Quadra Pacific has divested its third and final Australian asset: a nine-level office in central Toowoomba.
The Easternwell Centre at 10 Russell Street is trading to Bernoth Properties, backed by a local family with significant property holdings in the area.
The 7103 square metre complex, with single-level basement car park for 47 vehicles and another 58 on-grade bays, is considered one of the region’s largest commercial assets.
It occupies a 5047 sqm L-shaped plot also with frontage to the Bell Street Mall, Neil and Russell streets.
The property failed to sell when it was listed for public sale in late 2017.
Knight Frank’s Christian Sandstrom and Adam Willmore managed an offers-to-purchase campaign this time around.
Mr Willmore said the property attracted interest from local, Brisbane-based and interstate investors.
“We believed that the majority of interested parties would be either Toowoomba or Brisbane based however we were pleasantly surprised by the genuine interest from interstate buyers in the Toowoomba office market,” Mr Willmore said.
“The building is one of the largest commercial assets in town and occupies a prominent position in the heart of the Toowoomba Central Business District so it was a well-known asset in the area”.
“It is well located within the CBD, backing onto the Bell Street Mall, which is earmarked for an upgrade in the near future and adjoins the refurbished Toowoomba Bus Station.
“Investors were also attracted to the property due to its strong tenant profile, with the property having a history of securing and retaining government and national tenants, as well as its development potential with adjoining land currently being used for car parking suitable for future development.”
Easternwell, which specialises in providing drilling, well servicing and camp management services to the mining, minerals, oil and gas industries, is the major tenant in the Toowoomba building, the agent said, adding that a 10- year lease was recently signed by Southern Cross Austereo to occupy space in the building for a radio station and TV studio.
Mr Sandstrom said regional hubs were increasingly attracting investors, who were looking for opportunities with higher yields outside the capital cities.
“Toowoomba is Australia’s second largest inland city and is experiencing an influx in infrastructure investment and development projects,” he said.
“Regarded as the epicentre of Queensland’s significant agricultural, infrastructure and mining activities, Toowoomba will always remain the gateway to the Darling Downs region and Surat Basin mining precinct.
“Situated prominently in the commercial core of the Toowoomba CBD, the Russell Street property benefits from a location that will capitalise on the surrounding infrastructure, amenity and facilities this city has to offer.
“It sits on the fringe of the Railway Parklands Priority Development Area (PDA) in Toowoomba, the activation of which is designed to facilitate development during a time of unprecedented opportunity and investment, and the infrastructure pipeline occurring in the region will underpin the location of the asset and support the performance of the building.”
Quadra Pacific has in recent times also offloaded two Brisbane CBD assets at 133 Mary Street and 288 Edward Street.
