New Melbourne office tower launched opposite Fed Square
Dexus has launched a boutique office project in the heart of Melbourne after signing a deal with Chinese-backed construction and infrastructure house John Holland Group to anchor a new Flinders St tower on a site opposite Federation Square.
The deal, flagged in The Australian last month, will see the infrastructure company take up a long-term lease over 7700sqm at the long-mooted 180 Flinders St site.
Melbourne’s strong leasing market has also seen Cbus Property, Mirvac, Brookfield, QIC and Charter Hall kick off skyscrapers.
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The Dexus development will comprise 20,100sqm of office space and retail uses, with more tenants vying to take up space in the 12,100sqm A-grade office component, which sits above an existing public carpark.
Dexus will also refurbish two buildings — at 189 Flinders Lane, that will comprise 3700sqm, and 180 Flinders St, spanning 3700sqm. Dexus chief executive Darren Steinberg says the group has enabled John Holland to consolidate its offices across the city.
“180 Flinders St will be new office space in the vibrant Paris end of the Melbourne CBD, and delivers on our strategy of achieving enhanced returns through the identification of sites within our portfolio that we can reposition through development and leasing,” he says.
John Holland was mooted to be paying a net rental of about $575 per square metre but the companies did not reveal the figures. John Holland Building executive general manager David Lehmann says the company is going through a growth phase and will also construct the tower.
“We look forward to bringing one of the city’s most prominent office towers to life as builders of the new development,” he says.
John Holland is reaping the benefits of the infrastructure boom and has secured about $10.5 billion of new work with major contracts, including the West Gate Tunnel, Melbourne Metro rail, the Sydney Metro TSE, the Grafton correctional Centre PPP, as well as a Melbourne Metro trains operations and maintenance contract.
John Holland will start its lease term from practical completion of the first stage of the development in August 2020. The development is targeting five-star NABERS Energy and Greenstar Design and As Built ratings, with building kicking off in April.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
