South Africa’s Growthpoint Pays GPT $50 Million For Canberra Office

SOUTH African backed Growthpoint Properties Australia has paid $50 million for a Canberra office complex fully leased by the federal government.

The 10-12 Mort Street complex (pictured, right), offloaded by the GPT Group, includes two adjoining six-level towers with a total of 15,400 square metres of A-grade space. The AFR, which reported the sale, did not disclose the rent paid by the government or the yield the property sold for.

Over the past three years the trust has acquired $835 million in real estate. It bought four office assets last December for $294 million, and also , three office assets in Brisbane, an office development in Sydney’s Gore Hill Technology Park.

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GPT Withdraws Half Share of MLC Tower After Failing to Draw a Bid

FUND manager and developer GPT Group has withdrawn from the market its half share of Sydney’s landmark MLC tower.

GPT was firm with its $373.2 million asking price.

As such, it is reported, no bids were received. The AFR reports about 30 international and domestic prospective buyers expressed an interest, however.

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GPT Sells Alliance Portfolio for $US72 Million

The GPT Group (GPT) today announced further progress in relation to the Group’s non core asset sales program, with an agreement to sell the Group’s interest in the Alliance portfolio (previously warehoused within the Hamburg Trust platform) to a syndicate of private investors. The portfolio was originally acquired to seed a closed end fund.

On completion of the sale, GPT will have sold approximately $650 million of non core assets since December 2008. This is in line with the Group’s strategy to exit non core portfolios and markets.

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Brisbane City Council Leases 8000 Square Metres at Brisbane Transit Centre

THE Brisbane City Council will lease 8,000 square metres of office space at the Transit Centre.

The council will fill Telstra space which has sat vacant for six months, and is contributing to the Brisbane CBD’s high office vacancy rate of 10.9 per cent.

Owners GPT Group and the Lend Lease managed Australian Prime Property Fund recently upgraded the 30,000 square metre office from B grade, to A grade quality.

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Grocon Consortium Gets Started Building Sydney CBD’s Next Skyscraper

EXECUTIVES met at a big pile of dirt in the Sydney CBD, to mark the site which will become that city’s next major skyscraper.

Grocon plans to build an $800 million, 43-level, 54,000 square metre building at the site – which it was announced would have two addresses: 161 Castlereagh Street, and 242 Pitt Street.

Law firm Freehills will access the Castlereagh Street entrance, while bank ANZ will occupy Pitt Street.

The building will be owned by GPT’s Wholesale Office Fund, Grocon and LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund III, upon completion.

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GPT May Split Oz and European Assets, as Part of New Strategy

Michael CameronTHE giant GPT Group is understood to be entertaining a plan to split its commercial property assets into two separate vehicles, designed to make the group look more appealing to investors, and improve the group’s negotiation position with banks.

The proposal will see Australian owned office towers and shopping centres managed by one fund, and a swag of “toxic” European assets (owned with failed investment group Babcock & Brown), managed by another fund.

The decision follows capital raisings to the tune of more than $1.7 billion, since GPT’s new chief executive and former banker Michael Cameron took the helm on May 1. In total the group has raised about $3.3 billion in the past 18 months.

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GPT Sells Four Points by Sheraton For $185 Million

AN as yet undisclosed south-east Asian investor has paid $185 million for GPT’s unrenovated ‘Four Points by Sheraton’ hotel, in Sydney.

The hotel sold at a 10 per cent discount to its June 2009 valuation of $206 million. In December last year it was valued at $236 million.

Based on the asset’s current annual rent, the hotel sold on a yield of 8.8 per cent.

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