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Office

Yesterday

Office buildings in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi’s original hedge fund island is running out of office space

A real estate frenzy puts the United Arab Emirates capital at odds with other major cities around the world, where office vacancy rates remain elevated.

  • Zainab Fattah

This Month

240 Queen Street in Brisbane has just under 25,000 sq m of office space.

Quintessential’s $250m Brisbane office deal confirms valuation slump

Quintessential’s $250m purchase of 240 Queen Street in Brisbane from Brookfield crystallises a 17pc fall in the tower’s value from its peak.

  • Larry Schlesinger

June

The $10 million renovation by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer of Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Campbell House private office in Sydney’s Woollahra won the top NSW award for commercial architecture. 

Cannon-Brookes’ $10m office reno tops architecture awards

The focus on giving new life to old buildings is crucial at a time when preserving embodied carbon of existing buildings is an increasing priority.

  • Michael Bleby
Sign of things to come: Mirvac’s planned tower at Pitt Street in Sydney.

Mirvac sells $1.3b stake in new tower to Mitsui

The transaction is the latest evidence of the company’s efforts to trade out of lower-quality office assets and focus on new, premium ones. 

  • Michael Bleby

Can Google bring the groove to drab Docklands?

The tech giant is eyeing the top three floors in Lendlease’s Melbourne Quarter Tower, a move that could add hipster vibes to the drab Docklands precinct.

  • Nick Lenaghan
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Dexus-Canadian fund cashes out $310m Martin Place stake at a discount

Office valuations have been progressively written down over the past two years as the sector absorbs the cost of high rates. 

  • Campbell Kwan
Mirvac’s 55 Pitt St will stand 56 storeys tall, and have eight floors of retail at the bottom.

Minters to sit atop Mirvac’s 55-storey office tower

The top-tier law firm will take up the top floors of 55 Pitt Street, as Sydney’s legal eagles vie for the best perches across the CBD.

  • Campbell Kwan and Maxim Shanahan
In a land lease estate, such as this one in Melbourne, the owner owns their home, but leases their land.

Macquarie joins rush into land lease sector after $2.9b raising

Macquarie Asset Management’s new global fund will invest in a land lease business on the East Coast alongside investments in logistics and rental housing

  • Larry Schlesinger
Phil George with Jacqui Pires of King Street Studios

WeWork’s exit opens opportunity for new co-working hub

The owner of 66 King Street in Sydney’s CBD has taken over the space from WeWork and decided to run his own co-working office there under a belief that he can do it better.

  • Campbell Kwan

Rich List Snow family sets sights on Canberra’s next landmark

It is the first major project launched by Capital Property, the owner of Canberra Airport, since Terry Snow stepped down from active management last month.

  • Nick Lenaghan
Office property valuations may not have hit the bottom just yet.

Why the office property market is still in real pain

Sliding valuations in Australian office real estate means the debate about whether the sector has hit the bottom will rage on. 

  • James Thomson
Hong Kong private equity player PAG has acquired 367 Collins St for $340 million.

Mirvac set to sell two office towers at discounts of more than 20pc

Pricing for the latest deals on the office towers in Sydney and Melbourne – worth close to half-a-billion dollars in total - shows just how far values have fallen.

  • Campbell Kwan and Nick Lenaghan

Poor energy-efficient properties becoming stranded in Europe

More than half of 250 European commercial real estate portfolio managers surveyed acknowledge that more than 30 per cent of their assets are stranded.

  • Frances Schwartzkopff

Employers lure workers back to office with promise of their own desk

Hot desking took off during the pandemic as a way to save money amid a new era of hybrid work. Now some firms are having second thoughts.

  • Matthew Boyle
Germany has wind farms in the North Sea but plans to develop specialist skills in Australia will be held up by the renewed debate over nuclear power, contractors say.

Nuclear plan puts sovereign risk back into infrastructure: Contractors

The Coalition’s energy proposal rekindles uncertainty for a contracting industry counting on renewable energy to offset a slowdown in rail and road work.

  • Michael Bleby
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Buyers snap up ageing and empty office buildings for deep discounts

Bargain hunting in the US office sector might just be the tip of the iceberg, more a sign of quick deal-making than an indication that prices have hit rock bottom.

  • Matthew Goldstein
Chris Lucas with Adrian Pozzo of Cbus Property in front of a model of 435 Bourke Street.

Restaurateur Chris Lucas to bring midas touch to $1b Cbus office tower

The property group is collaborating with the Melbourne restaurant king on the design of the hospitality precinct below its $1billion office tower at 435 Bourke St.

  • Larry Schlesinger

Ultra-wealthy are betting on San Francisco’s comeback

Forget the gloomy forecasts of a doom loop. Powered by an AI boom and rebounding real estate demand, the city has halted population decline and is adding jobs.

  • Karen Breslau and John Gittelsohn
Amazon gift cards in the United States are no longer available on the Prezzee platform.

Shaun Bonett’s Prezzee has a costly run-in with Amazon

The gift card payments group controlled by the billionaire has had to stop selling the popular vouchers in the US, undermining a key revenue stream.

  • Primrose Riordan

Billions in CBD office tower sales to test valuations

The slew of assets being offered off-market comes as listed property giants gain confidence that the office sector disruption is finally bottoming out.

  • Campbell Kwan

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/office-property-hqb