Curated Capital secures Holman Hodge for Pirie St tower as $25m upgrade kicks off

A largely vacant office tower in the middle of the CBD will undergo a $25m revamp after securing its first new tenant. See the plans.

Curated Capital has kicked off a $25m upgrade of its Pirie St office tower after securing its first new tenant for the building.

The fund manager and its investment partner, Sydney-based Realside Property, settled on its $76m acquisition of the 18-storey building at 45 Pirie St in May, with a refurbishment strategy designed to lease up the building’s vacant space.

Accounting firm Holman Hodge has been secured for 1200sq m across an entire floor of the 20,000sq m building, which has remained about 75 per cent vacant since the state Attorney-General’s department’s move to Charter Hall’s GPO Exchange tower in 2019.

Artist's impression of refurbishment of 45 Pirie St, Adelaide. Picture: Supplied by Curated Capital

An artist’s impression of the upgraded tower at 45 Pirie St. Picture: Supplied by Curated Capital

Upgrade works recently began, and will include a new expansive foyer area and improved end-of-trip facilities, while 1000sq m of land on Gawler Place has been earmarked for future development of additional office space or apartment-hotel style accommodation.

Curated Capital director Alessio Roscio said talks with other potential tenants were progressing, with the building’s central location a key selling point.

“The location of this asset is one of the best in Adelaide’s core commercial business precinct,” he said.

“As part of our plans for the building upgrade, we’ll be focusing on creating spaces that connect the indoors with outside areas to enhance the experience for tenants.

Artist's impression of the refurbishment. Picture: Supplied by Curated Capital

The Pirie St tower has remained largely vacant since 2019.

“Adelaide is faring really well when it comes to attracting workers back into the office and developments like this one will make even more people want to return to the office environment.”

Curated Capital has released images of its development plans for the tower, and will begin a leasing campaign in the coming weeks.

Mr Roscio, the managing director of accounting firm RCR Partners, teamed up with property developer Pep Rocca to launch Curated Capital in 2021.

The Pirie St acquisition adds to the fund manager’s $500m portfolio of assets across Adelaide, including the soon-to-be completed COMO mixed-use development in Norwood, and a major biomedical and office development proposed for the former Coca-Cola site at Thebarton.

Mr Rocca said the appetite from commercial property investors remained strong, particularly for properties where there was an opportunity to add value through upgrades and repositioning.

“There are numerous investors in Adelaide who have significant cash reserves and who are consistently on the lookout for sound investment opportunities,” he said.

“We do of course need to take into consideration the higher cost of funds, but that’s why we look for undervalued assets and buildings that require upgrades that we can reposition to meet modern standards. This approach allows us to generate equity in our investments.

“And we always co-invest in our assets. We always have skin in the game.”