Lendlease charges ahead with Salesforce Tower, Dexus to make 25 Martin Place sparkle

Office owners are backing a new breed of city towers to help bring workers back to their desks.

Lendlease Australia property chief executive Kylie Rampa, left, and Salesforce CEO Pip Marlow at the construction site of the new Salesforce building at Sydney’s Circular Quay. Picture: Britta Campion

Office owners are backing a new breed of city towers to help bring workers back to their desks with developer Lendlease charging ahead with the landmark Salesforce Tower and rival Dexus overhauling one of the country’s most famed buildings, the former MLC Centre.

The moves are part of a trend in which big companies are getting back to offices as they want staff to work together even as they allow for some to work days at home.

Salesforce is ready to shift from its Darling Park headquarters into what will become the city’s tallest commercial tower at Circular Quay and chief executive Pip Marlow says the shift will change the nature of the company’s work environment.

While it has adopted policies that allow for working from anywhere the Salesforce chief says that offices are unique and give a sense of connection to the company that cannot be replicated purely at home.

Lendlease Australia property chief executive Kylie Rampa says the developer is getting good engagement from corporate Australia looking at new ways of working in its buildings.

“For businesses about creativity, you need to come together and you can only do that at work and it just creates energy,” she said. “It’s where you create culture and it’s really where you come together.”

Ms Rampa said a lot of companies were working through their strategies but there would always be an office element. “I think there’ll be a flight to quality,” Ms Rampa added.

Lendlease will finish the tower next year and is well-advanced on the 263m colossus.

But for Ms Marlow the key changes are happening within offices for staff and she is hoping the pandemic helps make workplaces more flexible and introduce more diversity, rather than old style long hours imposed on deskbound staff.

“My great hope is that we don’t snap back to where we were but we leapfrog forward to create a workplace that is more equitable for all,” Ms Marlow said.

“So people who have different abilities, people of different genders, people with cognitive diversity can participate and not have to feel like it’s in a one size fits all model,” the Salesforce chief said.

Ms Marlow also emphasised the importance of connection and collaboration and stresses the importance of teams for creative thinking.

Salesforce will also use leading technology to allow for tracing and tracking. “We will be smarter about what the look and feel of the spaces required,” Ms Marlow said.

The Saleforce chief cited the importance of companies earnings the commute for their staff. “Thursday’s the new Monday but they still want to come in,” she quipped.

But the company will look to get the most out of its footprint in one of Sydney’s most expensive spaces. “We’ll also look at things like shape shifting and how you have spaces that you can multi-purpose,” Ms Marlow said, with the office to be a trailblazer in using data even among the global network of famed Saleforce towers, some of which are yet to come back fully online.

Meanwhile one of the city’s most loved towers is getting a makeover.

Sydney’s MLC Centre changed owners two years ago when Dexus and its funds took control of the building and now the name of the city landmark has changed to 25 Martin Place.

The move recognises its pre-eminent position on the financial strip and comes as new retailers shift in, backing the recovery of Sydney’s CBD, as the first stage of the complex’s $170 million overhaul was unveiled.

The building’s once warren-like lower levels will become luxury retail, dining and cultural spaces as Dexus puts its stamp on the tower in which it first bought a stake from the Queensland Investment Corporation in 2017. It then followed this by buying out GPT in 2019 in a deal valuing the entire complex at $1.6 billion.

Dexus has worked up plans for an entertainment precinct that will offer new restaurants overlooking Martin Place, creating an al fresco setting in the city.

The first of the new retailers will open later this year with the arrival of New Zealand Restaurant Good Group’s Botswana Butchery, Nour Group’s Aalia and Japanese restaurant Kazan.

This will coincide with the reopening of the Theatre Royal Sydney with the Australian launch of the musical Jagged Little Pill, inspired by Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette. 

Fashion house Valentino will also unveil a new Australian flagship store, taking two levels across 765sq m on the corner of Castle­reagh and King streets.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore at a presentation showcasing the upcoming completion of the MLC Centre at Martin Place. Picture: Richard Dobson

Dexus chief executive Darren Steinberg said that together with its capital partner, Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, the company was making a significant investment “to ensure 25 Martin Place continues to contribute to the CBD for years to come”.

New towers are springing up nearby, including the two new Macquarie Group-developed buildings above the new metro station and Investa’s nearby 60 Martin Place.

“This transformation into a ­vibrant CBD destination will generate new jobs, support the culture of the city and contribute to Sydney’s day and night economy, helping to drive economic growth into the future,” Mr Steinberg said.

Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said visionary architect Harry ­Seidler’s distinctive 25 Martin Place had been a Sydney landmark since the 1970s and now, after extensive renovation, would re-open as a symbol of city renewal.

All up, 25 Martin Place will deliver about 6000sq m of new and improved retail space across four levels, offering more than 50 different retailer experiences, and is supported by the existing office tower.

Established in 1978 by Seidler, 25 Martin Place has been an ­architectural icon of Sydney’s CBD. At that time, the building was the tallest skyscraper in the southern hemisphere, but that has been surpassed by a new wave of office towers.

Working with Harry Seidler and Associates, architect Woods Bagot has built on Seidler’s original design principles to deliver a contemporary precinct and revitalised public spaces for Sydney’s CBD.