Poly’s twin office projects draw towering interest

Chinese property developer Poly Global will forge ahead on its own to build a $500 ­million office tower in Sydney.

An artist's impression of the Poly Centre Sydney at 210-220 George Street

Chinese property development group Poly Global will forge ahead on its own to build a $500 ­million office tower in Sydney but could take on a partner at its ­Melbourne tower in the Docklands precinct.

Poly’s confidence has been spurred by winning space provider Regus as a likely anchor for its Sydney tower, while its Melbourne project has been pitched as the city’s first major speculative project in this cycle.

Poly in February offered stakes in the two main office ­developments it has under way in the capitals, and they were ­estimated as having an end value of about $1 billion.

The company tapped real estate agency Knight Frank to seek out partners on interests in each of the projects, with Poly to develop and co-own the towers.

Poly offered up 49 per cent stakes in the projects via a trust structure and there was interest shown in the sites by groups keen on part-stakes or taking on the entire projects.

The group’s $500m office tower in Sydney was considered a prize and Poly will now likely develop the tower itself as talks advance to secure co-working giant International Workplace Group for about 4500 sqm.

The British company is the parent company of the Regus and Spaces brands and adding the George Street tower would give it more than ten flexible workplace centres in the city.

The 17,000 sqm office project is Poly’s first local office site and was timed to capitalise on the tight leasing market. Dubbed the Poly Centre Sydney, it will sit at 210-220 George Street and team with architecture firm Watpac to build the project.

In Melbourne, the Chinese-backed developer has been hunting for an anchor tenant for its 24-storey office tower at 1000 La Trobe Street, Docklands, which will span about 31,500 sqm.

The Poly project had been mooted as a new home for the Myer headquarters but last week it was reported to be considering speculatively building the office project.

The tower is slated to start later this year and be finished in 2021 and Poly is weighing up taking on a joint venture partner or selling the site.

“The EOI campaign generated strong inquiry and numerous offers. At this point in time we are currently assessing our options,” a Poly spokesman said.

The Melbourne site had previously been considered for a residential project that could have housed 600 apartments after Poly bought the land for $32m from the Liberman family backed Digital Harbour (Holdings).

Poly’s moves may position it for an eventual sell off a stake in its Richmond property in Melbourne, that is also slated for an office development, but that is likely to be handled by the agency in future.

Poly has been expanding and this year unveiled plans for a major residential project in the Brisbane suburb of Ascot.