CBD Commercial Property News

The Bank of Sydney has swooped on a Pitt St office block in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, buying the complex from Kingsmede for about $50 million.

Plans by the James Packer-backed casino giant Crown Resorts and the private Schiavello Group to build the $2 billion One Queensbridge hotel and apartment complex at Melbourne’s Southbank have been put in limbo after the Victorian government refused to extend the development permit.

Perth’s office market is starting the year strongly with Primewest finalising a deal to buy an office building from private equity group Blackstone for $86 million.

Sydney’s Circular Quay is a step closer to a major overhaul with the Berejiklian government quietly shortlisting rival consortiums — one led by Lendlease and the other by Plenary Group — for a $2 billion overhaul of the ferry wharves precinct.

Chinese property development group Poly Global is looking to step up its Australian operations by offering stakes in about $1 billion of office projects it has under way in Sydney and Melbourne.

Golden Age and partner Starwood Capital have dumped plans for a $600 million apartment and hotel complex on Melbourne’s Spring St and are selling the site to Proprium Capital Partners Australia in a $114 million deal.

Melbourne is locking in its status as a global investment destination for property investors, with Hong Kong group Foo Hang Jewellery finalising a deal to buy a Collins St tower for $314 million, its first move into Australia.

Brisbane’s office market is starting the year with a series of major towers worth more than $300 million in play and investors looking to expand their holdings.

Sydney’s Circular Quay is bracing for a wave of new office developments, with fund manager AMP Capital locking in accountants Deloitte for a major precommitment in its new $3 billion tower and rival Lendlease drawing interest from the Commonwealth Bank’s wealth arm for its project.