- The development was originally built in 2005
- It is only one of seven major office buidlings in Southbank
- 60% of the asset is leased to multinational insurance company IAG
Marquette Properties, a real estate investment manager, has acquired a Mirvac office building in Brisbane’s Southbank for $104.4 million.
The off-market acquisition of the 189 Grey Street office tower was negotiated by CBRE’s Tom Phipps.
The move comes as Marquette continues its divestment strategy to fund recent acquisitions and its development pipeline.
Originally developed by Mirvac in 2005, the office tower is one of only seven office buildings in Southbank – Brisbane’s most tightly held office market. The A grade office complex is 12-levels and consists of 12,595 sqm of net lettable area and 146 car parks.
Currently, 60% of the asset is leased to multinational insurance company IAG and engineering, procurement, construction management and Ausenco, an operations service provider.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to buy this asset and be custodians of a Mirvac designed, developed and managed building with enduring value and quality,” said Toby Lewis, Marquette Managing Director.
“By measure of office fundamentals, the asset is one of the best buildings in Brisbane. Moreover, we’d argue that Grey Street is among the top three streets in Brisbane for office buildings, offering amenity which is among the best in our city.”
Toby Lewis, Marquette Managing Director
Mr Lewis also noted that Southbank currently has a minimal office vacancy rate, with just 1.5 floors vacant, although these are expected to be leased in the short term.
“We remain cautious but acquisitive and feel that the significant volatility across markets augers well for commercial property,” he said when discussing Marquette’s broader market outlook.
“We will keep our assumptions around interest rates and cap rates conservative but feel next year will be a big bounce back for our industry.”
CBRE’s Mr Phipps added “With very little REIT, wholesale or offshore direct capital currently active we are seeing syndicators, club investors and privates taking advantage of the current market volatility to secure quality assets that larger institutions deem too small or non-core.
“We had made several approaches to acquire 189 Grey Street on Marquette’s behalf and were ready to act when Mirvac elected to sell.”
Tom Phipps, CBRE
