Quintessential Equity acquires CBA building in Adelaide

The new owner of the CBA building in Adelaide has plans to invest $25m in a major upgrade in a bid to secure tenants to replace the departing bank.

Quintessential Equity has acquired the CBA building at 100 King William St, Adelaide.

Shane Quinn’s Quintessential Equity will inject around $25m into a major upgrade of the Commonwealth Bank building in Adelaide following its $71.5m acquisition.

Quintessential’s purchase from Sydney investor Bob Maidment comes as the bank prepares to relocate its Adelaide headquarters from its long-standing home to Kyren Group’s newly built premises at 108 Wakefield St.

Once that happens in around April next year, vacancy in the 19,000sq m building at 100 King William St will reach around 48 per cent, but Mr Quinn is confident his refurbishment plans will breathe new life into the building and attract new tenants.

“I always thought the building was one of the best engineered buildings I’d ever been in, in terms of the structural and mechanical make-up of the building,” he said.

“We thought there was entrapped value in the asset and by going through a major regeneration we can reposition the asset to be a very prominent building in the Adelaide office CBD again.

“The vendor has just spent $1.4m on a mechanical upgrade and we’ll continue the regeneration of the asset, and will spend probably up to $25m or more regenerating it over the next two years.”

Quintessential Equity executive chairman Shane Quinn. Picture: Alan Barber

Mr Quinn said the upgrade would include a new wellness centre, gym and yoga studios, improved end-of-trip facilities, and “third spaces” to “meet the needs of post pandemic office tenants”.

“By buying this building and having a targeted spend we can reposition it to the post pandemic world, and be the first of the buildings that can offer that type of space to tenants, which is going to give us the competitive advantage to win the race to the tenant,” he said.

“Office buildings were changing pre-pandemic and we have no change on the thought process that office buildings need to evolve to remain relevant to white collar businesses.”

Mr Quinn has a long history with the building, having previously held a minority stake alongside Mr Maidment and property investor Stan Waldren.

The trio paid $64.7m for the building in 2008 before Mr Maidment bought out his two former partners.

Melbourne-based Mr Quinn has remained an active investor in Adelaide, and is bullish about the city’s prospects.

Last year Quintessential completed a $8m refurbishment of an office tower at 431 King William St, and early this year it secured a major leasing commitment from packaging giant Visy for 44,000sq m at its Port Adelaide Distribution Centre.

It was also chosen by the state government to develop the $400m Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre (EIC) at the Lot Fourteen tech and start-up precinct.

Artist’s impression of the Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre (EIC) at Lot Fourteen.

Construction of the 16-level, 35,000sq m building at the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site is expected to commence early next year, and Mr Quinn is confident of securing tenants for all of the space by the time construction begins.

“We’re currently refining the design of the building, around technology and the way the building operates - we really think it will be revolutionary in terms of the way the building is designed and what it will offer to these businesses that want to be at Lot Fourteen and EIC,” he said.

“We think the building will be oversubscribed and by the time the building starts construction early next year it will be fully pre-committed.

“There will be some major announcements in the next couple of months - it’s really exciting.”

The sale of 100 King William St was brokered by Paul van Reesema and Alistair Mackie from Colliers and CBRE’s Ian Thomas and Alistair Laycock.