Charter Hall and QuadReal buy 309 North Quay in the CBD with plans for office towers
One of the last Brisbane CBD riverfront development sites has been snapped up in a deal rumoured to be worth $65m. See what the new owners plan to do with it.
After a tough year for the Brisbane CBD, fund manager Charter Hall has kicked off 2021 in fine style announcing the purchase of one of the last riverfront development sites in the city and left their options open for its development.
In partnership with Canadian-based real estate investor QuadReal, they have acquired 309 North Quay, which housed Triple M and Hit 105.
The 6400sq m parcel of land overlooks the Brisbane River and within the North Quarter precinct.
The joint venture partners have taken a flexible approach to the site and lodged development applications for a single 50,000sq m commercial tower and a separate DA for two smaller office towers of 23,000sq m and 36,000sq m.
Charter Hall’s regional development director Bradley Norris said the site was a unique opportunity to contribute to the revitalisation of the Roma Street precinct.
“Continued investment from the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council in this area of the CBD, particularly in key city-shaping projects including Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro, will see Roma Street transform and we are excited to play a part with the development of 309 North Quay,” he said.
“While our initial priority will be the development of the first single tower, we have made the decision to lodge a separate DA for the two tower schemes at the same time, to provide ultimate flexibility in managing occupant requirements.”
The site was marketed by Knight Frank’s Justin Bond, and Jason Lynch and Don Mackenzie of Colliers International. Sources say the deal will settle in a couple of months for around $65m.
It marks the return of activity in the CBD with two A-grade CBD office towers set to sell before the end of the first quarter.
Marquette Properties is in due diligence to buy the 32-storey Gold Tower at 12 Eagle Street for about $285m and Sydney-based real estate investment group AsheMorgan is set to snap up Cornerstone Properties’ refurbished 310 Ann Street for about $210m.
The acquisition of 309 North Quay further extends the Charter Hall and QuadReal partnership following the 2019 $630m acquisition of 201 Elizabeth Street in Sydney.
QuadReal Head of Asia, Peter Kim, said Australia remains a key focus for the company.
“The North Quay investment is a direct product of the long-term strategic relationship we have with Charter Hall in that market,” he said.
“Urban renewal is a theme we embrace and support throughout the world; and this recent acquisition, which increases the size of our global office portfolio to about 34 million square metres.”
Designed by Blight Rayner, the proposed three towers will reflect subtropical architecture.
Blight Rayner director Michael Rayner said they will be the first towers in the CBD to be climatically protected by an external sunblade system that accurately responds to different faced orientations, thus generating a visually iconic subtropical city architecture reinforced by organic form.
“With increased revitalisation of the city’s fringe precincts, we’re looking forward to contributing to the site’s redevelopment potential and taking advantage of its proximity to existing and future infrastructure and transport,” he said.
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