- Commonwealth Place - or Darling Quarter - is leased out to the Commonwealth Bank
- Acquisition for AREAP Core I fund, which has diversified portfolio of high-quality assets across Asia Pacific
- The fund announced a 50% stake in OUE Bayfront, Singapore last year
Allianz Real Estate has purchased a 50% stake of Sydney’s Commonwealth Place – otherwise known as Darling Quarter – for $625 million.
The transaction, done on behalf of the National Pension Service of Korea – the largest in the world after the United States, Australia, Japan and Norway – and the Allianz group of companies via its AREAP Core I fund, is expected to close during the current quarter.
Located on Harbour Street in Sydney, the entire office is leased to the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) with a weighted-average-lease-expiry of over 12 years.
Completed in 2012, Darling Quarter homes around 61,000sqm of total net lettable area across two towers of office space with retail shops on the ground level. Currently, the asset has a 99.7% committed occupancy rate and was awarded 6-Star Green Star Design rating.
The fund
The AREAP Core I fund’s strategy centers around a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets across Asia Pacific.
The announcement follows the fund’s 50% stake in OUE Bayfront, Singapore last year. The platform sis in the form of a Singapore domiciled, close-end fund whereby NPS and Allianz are 50/50 investors.
“The pandemic has re-emphasized the importance of micro location, city density, asset quality and ESG when investing in an office asset,” said Danny Phuan, Asia-Pacific Head of Acquisitions for Allianz Real Estate.
“Sydney is one of the most liveable cities in the world and the long-term outlook for the Sydney office market remains favourable, supported by robust economic fundamentals, an attractive labour market and strong infrastructure investments”.
Danny Phuan, Allianz Real Estate Asia-Pacific Head of Acquisitions
“On behalf of NPS and Allianz, we are very happy to be investing in this landmark office building in Sydney, providing long-term value and stable cash flow,” added Rushabh Desai, Asia Pacific CEO for Allianz Real Estate.
“AREAP Core I is now 82% committed and this asset provides attractive diversification to the portfolio.”
“We are also excited to establish a partnership with a best-in-class company like Lendlease”.
