Charter Hall extends portfolio with landmark office tower

An Australian property group, in partnership with a sovereign wealth fund, have secured their second Brisbane CBD office tower, notching $450 million spent so far.

Charter Hall has acquired 343 Albert St, on the corner of Turbot St, for $108 million.

LEADING property group Charter Hall has increased its substantial Brisbane CBD holdings with the purchase of a landmark office tower.

The ASX-listed company has acquired 343 Albert St, on the corner of Turbot St, for $108 million and comes hot on the heels of its nearby Santos Place acquisition.

The deals come after Charter Hall won a mandate last year to pursue counter-cyclical investment opportunities on behalf of a sovereign fund, which its understood to be Singaporean-based GIC.

CBRE’s Bruce Baker, Flint Davidson and Tom Phipps managed the latest sale on behalf of joint venture owners Amalgamated Property Group and Morris Property Group.

Charter Hall’s fund manager office partnerships Trent James said the second Brisbane CBD office investment for the CCT partnership extends the portfolio to $450 million.

“The Brisbane CBD is performing in line with our partnership expectations and we look forward to exploring further opportunities,” he said.

The 20,000sq m 343 Albert St tower is opposite King George Square. Major tenants the Department of Human Services and Canstar recently signed seven-year lease renewals.

Other tenants include Pragmatic Training and the South East Queensland Office of Lord Mayors.

The site also has significant development potential and was previously approved for a 50,000sq m premium office tower.

Mr Baker said the Charter Hall deal highlighted that Brisbane was back on the radar for investors seeking counter-cyclical, core-plus style opportunities.

“Improving economic conditions, strengthening tenant demand and net effective rent growth are underpinning growing local and offshore buyer interest in the Brisbane CBD,” he said.

A spokesman for Amalgamated Property Group and Morris Property Group said they were progressively dealing with their jointly owned assets as each group repositioned their investment and development portfolios in Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast.

Amalgamated has under construction the 20,000sq m premium office building Civic Quarter in Canberra, while Morris Property Group is targeting other opportunities in the Brisbane CBD.

Morris has also added to its Canberra portfolio, having recently completed the redevelopment, upgrade and repositioning of its commercial retail complex Canberra House.