Work starts on the $28m facelift of Transport House

A MAJOR renewal project in Fortitude Valley has started, with the refurbishment of a nine-storey former State Government building.

An artist's impression of the refurbished Transport House office building within the Valley railway station precinct.

WORK has started on a $28 million makeover of the Transport House office building in the heart of the Valley Metro site.

LaSalle Investment Management has appointed Built Qld, which has started the refurbishment of the nine-storey building as part of its plans to transform the Valley railway station precinct in partnership with the building’s new owner, global private markets investment manager Partners Group.

An artist's impression inside the refurbished Transport House.

Work has started on a new lobby, a new floor-to-ceiling glass facade and end-of-trip facilities as part of improvements to the building, which was tenanted by the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads until late last year.

An artist's impression of the refurbished Transport House office building.

LaSalle Investment Management national director — development Simon Juniper said the refurbishment of Transport House was the first step in the $500 million plus renewal of the Valley Metro site, with leasing for an upgraded retail precinct also well advanced.

“The Transport House lobby integrates with the retail precinct so we are committed to giving both areas a significant facelift,” he said.

The 9000sq m office building is aiming to achieve a 4.5 star NABERS rating and be completed in the middle of next year.

When fully leased, Transport House will add more than 700 workers to the precinct, complementing the 15,000 commuters who each day pass through the site on their way to the Valley train station.

“We’re finding that those demographics are compelling for potential retailers, and the renewed retail will be attractive to office tenants, so the twin refurbishments go hand in glove,” Mr Juniper said.

LaSalle Investment Management has appointed Knight Frank and CBRE to lead the leasing campaign for the commercial office space. Retail leasing is being managed by Ben Tremellen from Retail Realm Partners.

As part of its master plan for the broader site, La Salle Investment Management has planning approvals in place for an apartment tower and a 23-storey commercial tower on the corner of Alfred and Constance Streets.