Charter Hall buys Melbourne’s Uniting Church headquarters
Charter Hall has emerged as Melbourne’s next major mega-developer after securing full ownership of the Uniting Church headquarters at 130 Lonsdale St to give the group control over a hectare of Melbourne’s CBD.
Charter Hall’s Core Plus Office Fund has acquired the full development rights for the Wesley Upper Lonsdale site at 130 Lonsdale St from Leighton Properties, which adjoins the group’s existing holding at 150 Lonsdale St.
Leighton, now CIMIC, was appointed preferred developer in January last year for the site owned by the Uniting Church. Yet, echoing a move it made at Parramatta Square in Sydney, Leighton has relinquished development rights to Charter Hall.
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The move adds another $500 million slab to Charter Hall’s broader $1.5 billion office pipeline, at a time when the group is aggressively bidding on off-market campaigns to extend the size of the portfolio.
It also delivers the developer control over a major parcel within the heart of Melbourne to rival some of the city’s largest landowners, including Walker Corporation and Lend Lease.
While 130 Lonsdale St has already received development approval for a sprawling 33-floor campus-style office complex, there are indications it could be incorporated into a broader, contiguous development with 150 Lonsdale St in the future.
An artist’s impression of the Uniting Church site on Lonsdale St. Picture: Leighton Properties.
“We are pleased to have secured the commercial rights of this strategic development site in one of the Melbourne CBD’s most tightly held office precincts,” Charter Hall CPOF fund manager Craig Newman says.
“CPOF is taking advantage of the expanded Charter Hall office development team to secure prime office projects off market that will deliver high-quality office product and enhanced investment returns to CPOF investors.”
Located in the heart of Melbourne’s entertainment and cultural precinct, and set among some of the city’s best restaurants and bars and the famous Princess and Her Majesty’s theatres, the Wesley site will be redeveloped into new A-Grade tower with 53,000sqm of office space across 33 floors, in addition to a town square with restaurants, kiosks and cafes, and several courtyard and garden spaces.
Charter Hall executives in past months have spoken about a strategy to add to assets under management through development, on sites secured in partnership arrangements.
In the past 12 months, the group’s managed funds have made several strategic development acquisitions including the new Western Sydney University (1PSQ) campus in Sydney’s Parramatta and the new Aurizon headquarters in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, both featuring long-term lease commitments.
More recently, CPOF acquired a commercial office building at 55 King St in Melbourne’s CBD for $78.5 million that is currently fully leased with potential for medium-term redevelopment.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
