Goldman Sachs to reap big return from WA’s William Square
Investment bank Goldman Sachs stands to reap a significant return as property funds manager Warrington Property puts William Square in the Perth suburb of Northbridge on the block for more than $170 million.
The bank backed Warrington’s purchase of the Australian Taxation Office-occupied building for about $101 million from German fund Deka Immobilien Investment in 2015 and then supported works to overhaul it.
Buying the Northbridge ATO building was a significant move by Warrington as it had previously focused on smaller stand-alone funds and private mandates.
Commercial Insights: Subscribe to receive the latest news and updates
Warrington completed a $62 million refurbishment of the Northbridge building that saw it effectively connected to nearby the Yagan Square project and Kings Square developments.
Now the owners are looking to sell the building as investor sentiment towards Perth assets lifts on the back of improvements in the WA capital’s office leasing market.
The multi-tenanted, six-storey A-Grade office building on the corner of William and Francis streets is mainly occupied by government, with 94% of its income from long term, state and federal government tenants.
Knight Frank’s Todd Schaffer says the building returns an annual income of about $10.2 million, but when fully leased this will be more than $12.4 million.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Mark Hansen says the building had more than 23,000sqm of lettable area, including just over 1200sqm of retail space near the central Perth bus and train stations.
“We expect the sale to generate significant interest from domestic and offshore investors,” he says, citing the significant spread between Perth and Sydney yields.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
