CBRE’s Scott Orchard and Tom Ryan negotiated the sale.
Robert Wallace, CEO of Frasers Logistics & Commercial Asset Management, manager of the REIT, said the acquisition aligned with its strategy to “pursue strategic opportunities which provides attractive yields and enables us to leverage our management expertise in Australia”.
The Mount Waverley building is the first suburban office asset acquired by the trust in Australia. Its $6.9 billion portfolio includes three large CBD office properties in Perth, Melbourne and Canberra.
Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs have become sought-after destinations for commercial office investment and development, amid the rise of the work-from-home trend and the exodus of many businesses from the CBD during the pandemic.
Developers pursuing commercial projects in the south-east include Melbourne powerhouse Pellicano, which is undertaking a $260 million mixed-use project in Moorabbin featuring five office towers.
Joining Pellicano in the south-east, Salta Properties, led by Rich Listers the Tarascio family has recently expanded its Nexus Corporate Park on Springvale Road in Mulgrave, adding a $90 million office building, anchored by a lease to residential builder Carlisle Homes.
Also in the south-east, the key suburb of Dandenong is set to benefit from a major revitalisation project featuring $2 billion of private and government investment headed by local developer Capital Alliance.
The Frasers trust – quoting JLL Research – noted the Melbourne south-east office market recorded a positive net absorption of 14,221sq m in 2021 and 1684sq m in the first quarter of 2022 on the back of “positive relocation activity from large tenants”.
“Occupier demand is expected to be positive with recovery post-COVID-19 in the Melbourne south-eastern office market,” the trust’s manager said.
