Brisbane’s Green Square North tower in Quintessential’s sights as Olympics enthusiasm grows

Funds house Quintessential ran early with office purchases as the cycle turned and is now targeting a site near Brisbane’s planned Olympics village.

The Green Square North Tower in Brisbane was put up for sale by superannuation fund-backed manager ISPT.

Funds house Quintessential is circling a major Queensland tower in the Green Square precinct in the heart of Fortitude Valley, near key venues proposed for the 2032 Olympics.

The group is in due diligence on the Green Square North Tower at a small discount to the $180m-$200m that super fund-backed manager ISPT put it on the block for in April.

Quintessential declined to comment, but it has been a major player as the office cycle has turned. At the low point, it bought 1 Margaret Street in Sydney in a breakthrough deal from listed property major Dexus in 2023. That sale was at a 16 per cent discount to its book value, and the market was jolted by the deal’s metrics.

It then bought another Brisbane block, striking a $250m deal to acquire 240 Queen Street, after the building’s vendor, Canadian group Brookfield, trimmed its pricing amid a fall in values.

Now office values are stabilising and demand has picked up for Brisbane assets.

Quintessential’s interest also shows its faith in the future of CBD offices, even though parts of the national office remain soft. Melbourne has been quiet, but more office players are now chasing towers in the Queensland capital due to its strong rental performance,

The Green Square tower is held in the ISPT Core Fund, which has been selling down office and retail assets. The A-grade building is near a series of proposed Olympic facilities.

They include the Brisbane Athletes Village, which will host 10,000 athletes and officials, and the 22,000-seat RNA Showgrounds Arena, as well as the Victoria Park Stadium and National Aquatic Centre.

ISPT had bought into the development in 2005 and forward funded it in a four-property deal with Leighton Properties that also included the neighbouring Green Square South Tower and two Civic buildings in Canberra.

South Korea’s Teachers Pension, via its asset manager AXA Investment Managers, bought Green Square South Tower for $205.5m in 2019. That tower is fully leased to Brisbane City Council until 2027, and funds house Sentinel has raised funds to buy it for $132m.

The sale of ISPT’s tower at 515 St Pauls Terrace is being handled by JLL’s Seb Turnbull and Paul Noonan and CBRE’s Peter Chapple and Bruce Barker. But they have declined to comment. It has a strong tenant profile. Designed by Cox Architecture, the 12-storey tower has more than 21,000sq m of net lettable area, 1900sq m-plus floorplates and 166 basement car park spaces.

Originally published as Brisbane’s Green Square North tower in Quintessential’s sights as Olympics enthusiasm grows