Where Virgin’s new Brisbane HQ is likely to land
Newly sold Virgin Australia could end up moving its slimmed-down operations into a new headquarters, sharing space with another besieged travel industry stalwart.
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WHILE Virgin Australia will be sold to American private equity firm Bain Capital there are plenty of things still up in the air.
One is the location of Virgin’s headquarters in Brisbane.
While Virgin has a number of years left on its lease at 56 Edmondstone Rd, Bowen Hills, administrator Deloitte, the carrier and its new owners are looking at new HQ options.
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We understand they are in talks with Flight Centre to take up vacant space at its 15-level headquarters at 275 Grey St, South Bank.
Flight Centre has been smashed by the coronavirus lockdown and there are five floors currently sublet including to call centre operator Stellar which is in the tower on a Federal Government contract.
We understand Flight Centre is using most of the other floors but in the new flexible work environment they can squeeze into a much smaller area.
With the Government expected to wrap up the call centre in October we understand there could be between 6000sq m and 8000sq m of space available, which would suit a slimmed-down Virgin.
It’s a 15 floor building including car park levels. About 5 are currently sublet. Not all of the others are set out as traditional office space. A couple of floors are setup for training and meetings etc in addition to the carpark levels. we are using most of our floors but people are generally working flexibly and we have had stanD-downs so we have some capacity if we choose to go down that path.
Flight Centre refused to comment, but industry sources say a deal is “on the cards”.
Regardless, we hear that the owners of 56 Edmondstone Rd, Charter Hall, have put a very tempting offer on the table to keep Virgin at Bowen Hills.
A new Virgin Australia head office has been in the works for a while.
Last year Commercial Confidential revealed the carrier had an off-market requirement through CBRE for a 15,000sq m new HQ in the fringe, which would have meant a new office tower.
Obviously it is now a very different world for the carrier.
A Virgin Australia spokesman said no decision has been made.
“We are continuing to explore options for a potential new office space in Brisbane which would allow us to reduce costs and offer fit-for-purpose facilities for our teams,” he said.
“We are continuing to work through options and decisions are yet to be made.”
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A GIANT model of the sun, which was a symbol for Queensland tourism and took pride of place in the lobby of a Brisbane CBD office building, has been returned to its original owner 20 years after it was installed.
The 4sq m mosaic sun mounted on a wall in the lobby of Makerston House at 30 Makerston St, Brisbane, was given back to Tourism and Events Queensland, who installed the 30kg model in 2000 when they were the main tenant in the building.
It will now be on display at the Queensland State Archives in Brisbane.
Makerston House was purchased by Sentinel Property Group last year for $103 million.
Sentinel has carried out some major refurbishments to the 14-storey office building, which is leased to the Queensland Government as well as various State Government corporate entities, plus Secure Parking.
Sentinel managing director Warren Ebert said the refurbishment meant the giant sun symbol needed to be removed, but Sentinel management wanted to check if Tourism and Events Queensland wanted it back.
“When they let us know that they did want the sun to be returned, we had no hesitation in deciding that if it belongs to them, let’s give it back,” he said.
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THE name Heritage Lanes may not yet be a part of the fabric of the Brisbane CBD … but it will be.
Heritage Lanes has been revealed as the name for Suncorp’s $850 million new headquarters at 80 Ann St which is being developed by Mirvac.
Inspired by the historic Brisbane Fruit and Produce Exchange on Turbot St, Heritage Lanes will incorporate design elements of the original market frontage and will feature a glazed podium canopy to represent the site’s original roof form.
Suncorp executive general manager of real estate Colin Harris said the naming of Heritage Lanes marked an important milestone for the construction project, which remains on track to be completed in 2022.
“Heritage Lanes will become a notable part of Brisbane’s city skyline for many years to come, so it was important to select a name that paid tribute to the site’s history,” Mr Harris said.
“The project has made great progress since construction commenced late last year. As the interior design takes shape, we’re taking advantage of what we have learnt over the past few months to think differently about how we use our office spaces more efficiently, ensuring our people can work flexibly across virtual and physical locations.”
