Charter Hall secures NAB as tenant in $450m King William St tower
New images reveal the luxurious $450m office tower being built on King William St, which includes a major new CBD mall.
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Charter Hall’s $450m office development in Adelaide is nearly fully leased six months ahead of completion after the property giant secured NAB as a third tenant for the building.
The bank will relocate from its long-standing city headquarters further north on King William St, joining Services Australia and Telstra in the tower, under construction at the former Southern Cross Arcade site.
NAB will occupy about 3700sq m of space across two levels of the 14-level building, at 60 King William St, down from more than 6000sq m in its current home.
Under a 10-year lease, it will also occupy a further 255sq m on the ground floor, at the King William St entrance to the King’s Lane retail mall which will link King William St with James Place.
NAB executive for enterprise operations Quentin Boyes said the move would provide an “outstanding workplace” for staff.
“60 King William presents a great opportunity for our people to collaborate in a flexible, state-of-the-art office with modern workspaces that are ideal for our hybrid workforce,” he said.
“Our new Adelaide office will also feature premium arrival, lobby and end-of-trip facilities as well as excellent sustainability credentials, right in the heart of the CBD.”
Services Australia, which oversees public services including Centrelink and Medicare, will consolidate five of its non-customer-facing offices in the Charter Hall building under a 10-year lease for 28,500sq m.
With Telstra taking up a further 6000sq m, more than 94 per cent of the building area is leased ahead of its opening next year.
Comprising of 39,000 sqm of office space and 3600sq m of ground floor retail, 60 King William St will become Adelaide’s largest office building, by floor area, when it’s completed by the middle of next year.
The project will offer the latest in state-of-the-art workplace facilities and technologies, including a sky lobby, facial recognition, touchless access and bathroom amenities, electric vehicle charging stations and a wellness centre.
Charter Hall managing director David Harrison said the building was being developed to achieve net zero carbon status, and would set a new sustainability benchmark in the Adelaide office market.
“The significance of pre-commitment from NAB, Telstra and Services Australia for 60 King William cannot be understated,” he said.
“It demonstrates Charter Hall’s unique ability to harness the power of our platform and our partnerships, to deliver a world-class development for our valued tenant customers and 60 King William ownership partners.”
While Adelaide’s office market withstood the challenges of Covid-19 better than most other parts of the country, given the limited number and duration of lockdowns and restrictions, the city’s vacancy rate is among the highest at 14.2 per cent.
And it’s expected to increase further next year once Charter Hall completes its King William St development, and Walker Corporation delivers 40,000sq m of new space at its One Festival Tower project.
NAB’s current premises at 22 King William St is currently undergoing a $2.5m revamp in a bid to attract new tenants, including a new entry foyer with refurbished ground-floor cafe.
Sydney-based investment manager Intergen Property Group is spearheading the project on behalf of the Singaporean family office that paid $47.2m for the building in 2020.
Meanwhile boutique property fund manager Quintessential Equity is running the rule over Telstra House in the CBD ahead of the telco’s move.
The Pirie St tower’s current owner, ASX-listed Australian Unity Office Fund, has been looking to sell off assets this year after investors knocked back a proposed merger with the unlisted Australian Unity Diversified Property Fund.
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