QIC and coworking business World Club Global have been linked to Charter Hall and Investa’s proposed Queen St office tower

Another CBD office tower may be on the way with two tenants taking a close look at it and developers are nervously waiting for building supplies from China.

ANOTHER CBD office tower development is looking increasingly likely with a major investment group getting nearer to putting pen on paper.

We hear that negotiations between QIC and the Charter Hall/Investa joint venture developing the $650 million premium tower at 360 Queen St are well on the way.

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QIC is currently at 66 Eagle St and we understand are looking at securing 10,000sq m plus in the proposed tower.

Also, coworking business World Club Global — which has five locations in Sydney and Melbourne — is also looking taking a 3000sq m slice of the mooted tower.

If the deals are sealed they would take up almost 25 per cent of the 45,000sq m office tower which would trigger the start of construction.

An artist's impression of 360 Queen St, Brisbane CBD.

In the meantime we hear the QIC is also looking throwing some money at the development of the tower by joining Charter Hall Prime Office Fund and Investa Commercial Property Fund project as co-owners.

Meanwhile, there’s a strong rumour doing the rounds that Virgin Australia has its eyes on a Fortitude Valley development site for its new home.

We hear that Tribune Properties’ approved 18-storey tower located in the China Town Mall at 31 Duncan St is the front runner for the airline’s 15,000sq m requirement.

CBRE is running the off market search for the airline’s new head office despite it having a number of year left on its lease in the Charter Hall-owned office building at 56 Edmondstone Rd, Bowen Hills.

However, the rumour has been viewed with a bit of scepticism by some in the market considering we are now well and truly in the coronavirus age.

Last we looked Virgin’s share price was under 10 cents and it has been dropping routes and winding back flights. The question is: Is it a good time to move?

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THE hoarding and scaffolding have been taken down and Dexus’ The Annex boutique office building at 12 Creek St will soon officially open its doors.

The ASX-listed property giant usually keeps things pretty quiet and there has been only one tenant announced hip restaurant Comuna Cantina on the ground floor.

But we hear there are only a couple of floors not yet spoken for in the 7200sq m office component of the building.

We understand that McConaghy Properties, which is currently at 10 Eagle St, Hudson Specialist Recruitment and coworking group Victory Office will take up about six floors of the 12-level building.

Dexus's new office tower The Annex, at 12 Creek St, Brisbane CBD.

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WE are hearing plenty about the coronavirus impacting on building supply chains and construction.

A quick ring around produced no response from Mirvac on the construction on Suncorp’s new head office at 80 Ann St while CBUS — on the record — say its too early to tell over the building of its classy residential tower at 443 Queen St.

But we are hearing all sorts of noise that construction slowing down because of the non-existent building supply chain out of China … not to mention the wet weather.

One developer who was happy to talk was DMANN Corporation’s David Mann who with Ashe Morgan is developing the Midtown Centre.

An artist's impression of the Midtown Centre.

Designed by Fender Katsalidis, the Midtown Centre is the merging of two dated former government buildings at 155 Charlotte St and 150 Mary St into a single new 44,000sq m office tower with campus style 2000sq m floor plates.

Mann says the 26-month “rebuild” by Hutchinson Builders should still be completed by June 2021 even though they have not received any construction materials from China since January.

However, he expects shipments to restart in April.

“We’ve had a few issues, especially with the building facade, but it’s not critical at this stage,” he says.

“We understand they’ve loaded the facade and we expect it to be delivered by the end of next month.

“At this stage we've been able to mitigate any supply issues by doing other work around it and also the Hutchies guys are ensuring that any other items they need they source from other suppliers.”

Artist's impression of Ashe Morgan and DMANN Corporation's planned Midtown Centre tower.

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WITH a Queensland portfolio valued around $1.6 billion fund manager Centuria Capital will make its presence felt in the Brisbane CBD.

They will open an office at 348 Edward St, which was acquired by Centuria $89 million late last year.

The IBM centre at 348 Edward St, Brisbane City.

There will be nine staff in the including newly appointed general manager of Queensland, David McGuigan, formerly CBRE’s head of asset management.

Centuria’s current Queensland portfolio consists of 43 assets with over 100 tenants.

Centuria joint CEO Jason Huljich said: “With the Brisbane market already constituting about 20 per cent of Centuria’s assets under management, the opening of the office is in line with the company’s strategy to accelerate growth, with Brisbane a favoured market.”

“The new Brisbane-based team, including asset management, property management, facilities management and distribution staff, are excited about the opening of the 348 Edward St office and look forward to further expansion of the group in the state.”