Super fund manager to exit Brisbane tower

Superannuation fund-backed manager ISPT has put the Green Square North Tower in Brisbane up for sale

Superannuation fund-backed manager ISPT has put the Green Square North Tower on the block as major investors turn their attention to Brisbane, with the price below $200m expected to spark a contest.

Large office players are chasing towers in the Queensland capital due to its strong rental performance and as Sydney landlords keep a tight grip on their assets, despite many fielding offers above book values.

Charter Hall, acting for Singaporean government sovereign wealth fund GIC, has already put Brisbane’s landmark Santos Place on the block, as demand for Queensland assets picks up.

The Green Square tower is held in the ISPT Core Fund, which has been selling down both office and retail assets. It could draw bids at around $170m as investors chase the A-grade building, which is part of the Green Square precinct in the heart of Fortitude Valley, near the proposed Olympic Village.

ISPT bought into the development in 2005 and forward funded it in a four-property deal with Leighton Properties that also included the neighbouring Green Square South Tower and two Civic buildings in Canberra.

South Korea’s Teachers Pension, through its asset manager AXA Investment Managers. bought the neighbouring Green Square South Tower for $205.5m in 2019. That tower, fully leased to Brisbane City Council until 2027, was listed for sale in 2022 and was more recently in the sights of funds house Sentinel but a deal is yet to eventuate.

The sale of ISPT’s tower at 515 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley, is being handled by JLL’s Seb Turnbull and Paul Noonan and CBRE’s Peter Chapple and Bruce Barker.

The asset has a strong tenant profile, industry-leading sustainability credentials, and a prime location near major infrastructure and Olympic developments.

Designed by Cox Architecture, the 12-storey tower comprises more than 21,000sq m of net lettable area, large 1900sq m-plus floorplates and 166 basement car park spaces.

“This is a landmark asset in one of Brisbane’s best-performing and most under supplied office precincts,” Mr Turnbull said.