Marprop extends office-buying spree to $235m in nine months

Independent real estate fund manager Marprop has swooped on a series of buildings on the eastern seaboard that fit with its active management style.

Marprop aims to reposition assets to create superior workplace experiences.

Independent real estate fund manager Marprop has swooped on a series of buildings on the eastern seaboard that fit with its active management style with the deals lifting it to more than $600m in assets under management.

The company is strongly backing the office sector by targeting buildings that can be picked up as institutions exit and can be reworked at an asset level and will benefit from infrastructure improvements.

Marprop has been quietly expanding its portfolio of commercial real ­estate assets during the Covid-19 ­pandemic, joining the ranks of companies growing assets while some others have paused purchasing.

Buying has paid off for players including Charter Hall and Dexus, who have unlocked large properties, and MarProp is using a similar strategy for mid-sized buildings.

The recent purchases include 9 Brisbane Avenue in Barton, in the ACT, that is better known as the Australian Federal Police College, which was acquired for $60.5m in an off-market transaction.

The property, which is currently fully occupied by the AFP, was built in 1949 originally to house public servants relocating to the ACT and after refurbishment in 1978 was reopened as the Commonwealth Police Training Centre and renamed the AFP College in 1979.

The building last traded in 2011 when the Australian Ethical Property Trust picked it up for $31.75m.

The asset was sold with six years remaining on the lease to the AFP and sits on about 1.5ha of land with long-term residential redevelopment potential adjacent to Lake Burley Griffin in one of the most desirable locations in Canberra.

For the last 42 years, the AFP College has been part of the lives of almost all AFP recruits since 1979 and has played a significant role in the education and training of both sworn and unsworn members of the AFP. The property is due to settle later this month.

Earlier this year Marprop acquired a 50.1 per cent interest in 60 Carrington Street, Sydney, from Brookfield for $140m.

The Carrington Street property is a fully-let 16-storey office building within the redeveloped and revitalised Wynyard precinct and in the heart of the Sydney CBD.

Marprop managing director James Marshall confirmed the asset was acquired within the firm’s Australia Fund on behalf of German institutional investors with its joint venture partner MIRA.

Late last year Marprop also acquired 55 Bolton Street in Newcastle from Eagle Property Group for $35m. That asset is located in the legal precinct with the federal government occupying 60 per cent of the office space on a 13-year lease.

The transaction was completed on yield of about 6.5 per cent.

Marprop has a record of beating investment and asset performance hurdles by identifying market dislocation and taking up mispriced opportunities, then uses its Beyond Grade repositioning and Friction Free leasing strategies.

Marprop aims to reposition assets, create superior workplace experiences for their tenant customers, and provide extraordinary outcomes for all stakeholders.

Since inception Marprop has developed and invested over $1bn of real estate assets in Australia, while delivering returns well in excess of market benchmarks.