Dexus grabs North Sydney’s Christie Centre for $60m
Property powerhouse Dexus is looking to bolster its position in North Sydney by snapping up The Christie Centre in Berry St for more than $60 million.
The purchase, via the listed group’s office partnership, will boost its exposure to the co-working industry as the Christie operation will lease back the complex.
The building will benefit from the shortage of space in the area and the switch to co-working by many tenants, with the complex sporting architect-designed workspaces, high-speed internet, conference rooms and breakout zones.
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Longer term, the building could become part of a broader redevelopment play by Dexus as it sits adjacent to the group’s 201 Miller St.
That building spans 22 levels of A-grade office space and occupies a commanding position at the junction of Miller and Berry streets.
Dexus could seek to buy up more properties in order to assemble a larger site for a new skyscraper that would capitalise on the area’s new height rules.
Dexus declined to elaborate further but a company spokeswoman says the acquisition is “in line with our strategy of investing in precincts that will benefit from the Sydney Metro and are adjacent to existing Dexus assets”. The off-market deal was brokered by Knight Frank’s joint heads of institutional sales Paul Roberts and Ben Schubert.
Dexus has been a prime mover in North Sydney.
The area received a major fillip in October when NBN Co committed to a $600 million-plus office complex being built by Dexus and the unlisted Dexus Wholesale Property Fund.
The pair lured the government-owned NBN Co out of a nearby tower for their flagship project at 100 Mount St with that deal seeing their decision to kick off construction in mid-2016 pay off.
The pair have committed to spend $461 million on the tower and will receive an uplift as the project wins tenants and as the value of office towers in the area has leapt.
The NBN leased 20,364sqm of space, representing almost half the building, and will shift its operations from North Sydney’s Innovation Place as well as other CBD sites.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
