German giant targets major Eagle St office
German funds manager Deka Immobilien is targeting the purchase of Brisbane’s 66 Eagle St complex for about $370 million, with the play again highlighting the city’s appeal to global investors.
The group has gone into due diligence on the tower, which is being offloaded by Lendlease’s wholesale Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial and Middle Eastern sovereign fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
Once complete, the deal would cap an extraordinary run for the city and lock in its status as the hottest capital city office market in Australia, with the number of major transactions outdoing even Sydney in recent months.
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Brisbane has attracted a diverse array of buyers ranging from listed groups Centuria Capital and Dexus to a series of foreign companies including Taiwanese-backed developer Shayher Group.
Shayher added to the rush of commercial property purchases in Queensland by last month picking up Brisbane’s landmark Q&A Centre for about $395 million.
Centuria bought an Edward Street tower in Brisbane’s central business district for $89 million for a new unlisted fund and Dexus bought a site with approval for a 274-metre tall skyscraper.
Other buyers include Cromwell Property Group, finance house Ashe Morgan, funds manager Anton Capital and Credit Suisse Asset Management.
The Lendlease/ADIA tower has been pitched as an A-grade office tower in the heart of Brisbane’s Golden Triangle. Its sale is being handled by JLL’s Seb Turnbull, Luke Billiau and Paul Noonan and Cushman & Wakefield’s Richard Butler, Josh Cullen and Mark Hansen. None would comment.
Brisbane has had an extraordinary run of big commercial property deals.
The tower was designed by renowned Japanese architect Kurokawa Kisho and forms an integral part of the city’s skyline.
Completed in 1990 as part of the Central Plaza series, the nearly 32,000sqm building has high occupancy and has tenants including QIC, McCullough Robertson, and Queensland and federal government departments.
Sitting on a prime 2510sqm three-frontage corner in Brisbane’s tightest office market, 66 Eagle St recently underwent a near $10 million premium capital expenditure program that included the design and creation of a new lobby, a cafe, an overhaul of the end-of-trip facility and new bicycle storage.
The building has been designed and maintained to an A-Grade standard, with 23 levels of floor plates more than 1400sqm as well as parking for 211 cars over three basement levels.
The German funds manager has been active in Australia. In February last year it swooped on the Bvlgari store in the heart of Sydney, picking up the bulk of the building that houses the luxury retailer in a deal worth about €36m ($56 million).
Deka also backed Armada Funds Management’s purchase of a Canberra shopping centre. The ACT complex was once part of the DFO empire part-controlled by businessman Graeme Samuel but was later developed into the Canberra Outlet Centre and sold in a near $120 million deal.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
