Commercial Confidential: Two offshore investors are close to finalising deals to buy office towers in the heart of the CBD

The wave of money from overseas looking at secure property investments in Brisbane looks set to roll on with two office deals nearing completion.

OFFSHORE investors are near to signing off on two Brisbane office buildings.

Multinational investment bank UBS is understood to be in exclusive due diligence to buy Cornerstone Properties' redeveloped masterpiece at 310 Ann St for an offshore client.

Global investment manager Nuveen was ahead of the pack before being pipped by UBS which is believed to be looking at paying between $215 million and $220 million.

310 Ann St, Brisbane.

The former “Wedding Cake” building was Suncorp’s long time home and was being discreetly shopped around by JLL and CBRE.

In late 2011 it was purchased by an entity linked to Cornerstone Properties’ Liz Pidgeon on behalf of FA Pidgeon & Son, for $63 million. FA Pidgeon & Son had built it for Suncorp in 199s at the cost of about $50 million.

It was vacated by Suncorp in 2015 and under the guidance of Cornerstone Properties managing director Andrew Harper the building has undergone an extensive “revisioning”, creating a state-of-the-art A-grade building from the bones of a dated B-grade tower.

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OFFSHORE BUYER EYES EDISON EXCHANGE

ALSO, we hear a Singaporean buyer is in due diligence to buy the Edison Exchange building at 280 Elizabeth St for about $60 million

The 10-storey Edison Exchange, which was developed in 1963 by the Federal Government through its Postmaster General Department, is being marketed by Knight Frank.

The site at 280 Elizabeth St has operated as a telephone exchange since 1883, and is now owned by Telstra which is selling it with a seven-year lease incentive for a new buyer.

The Edison Exchange in the Brisbane CBD is on the market and is expected to generate offshore and local interest

The building has 12,200sq m of gross floor area and is on a 1675sq m site

The site initially operated as part of Brisbane’s first telephone exchange, which opened in 1880, with 175 telephone services becoming available in 1883.

Manually operated until 1929, when the operation switched to an automated service with the current building fronting Elizabeth St opening 56 years ago as a state-of-the-art telephone exchange.

The 10-storey Ediison building on Elizabeth St next to the rear of the GPO next in the Brisbane CBD.

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BHP ON THE HUNT FOR SPACE

WITH the resources sector powering along we hear a number of companies are looking for more space in the CBD.

While Rio Tinto have pre-committed to AsheMorgan and DMANN Corporation’s Midtown Development BHP Billiton is also looking for more space.

We understand BHP, which is after 3000sq m to 4000sq m, has focused 175 Eagle St and Dexus’ 12 Creek St Annex which is currently under construction.

Cushman & Wakefield is representing BHP.

Artist's impression of The Annex at 12 Creek St being developed by Dexus in Brisbane's Golden Triangle.

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OLIVER HUME HUMMING

LEADING Australian property services group Oliver Hume has added more than $1.5 billion worth of new project land and apartment sales to its pipeline since Christmas,

So far in 2019 the company has been appointed to advise on 10 new projects by eight different developers across Melbourne and southeast Queensland.

The projects have a total sales value in excess of $1.5 billion.

Oliver Hume chief operating officer Julian Coppini said the swag of new appointments reflected the company’s ability to understand a range of markets and provide developers with research and insights that deliver clear competitive advantage.

Oliver Hume chief operating officer Julian Coppini.

In Queensland, the company this year has been appointed to sell the balance of Tribeca’s $25 million OTTO project at Coomera; the $135 million, 600-lot Carver’s Reach project at Park Ridge for Golden Gate Property; the Arcadia Park Ridge project for developer Goldengrove; and a soon-to-be-launched project at Ripley.

Mr Coppini said the Queensland market has remained relatively stable over the last 12 months.

“With strong interstate migration, a stable economy and plenty of new infrastructure on the way we are quite optimistic about the southeast Queensland market and that is manifesting in the number of developers pushing ahead with new projects,” he said.