Commercial
Devine to test office market
Courier Mail - Fri, Jul 7, 06
DEVINE will build its first commercial tower on a site it has bought from the receivers of collapsed property group Westpoint for $11.1 million.
The site at 333 Ann St has been earmarked by Devine for a 25-level, commercial office tower worth $125 million.
Property records reveal the site was bought by Westpoint for just over $5 million in 2003. An approval was in place for a 41-storey apartment complex it had intended to develop and call Panorama Sky.
Devine national manager commercial Jim Watson said the completed tower would add about 16,500sq m of A-grade office space to the current tight market.
He said because the previous owners had already cleared the site and dug it out, the commercial space should hit the market mid-2008.
Mr Watson said this would be Devine’s first completely commercial development, to date. He said the organisation decided on something manageable at 25 levels despite the approval for a bigger residential building on site.
‘‘We did a commercial risk analysis, we are very confident with the size, it is our first foray, we are not trying to build the Riverside Centre,’’ he said.
Typical floor plates in the development will be about 850sq m while two of the four podium levels will be about 950sq m.
Mr Watson said the site was well positioned in terms of transport, only 125m from Central Railway Station.
And with the site on an elevated part of Ann St, offices in the top of the tower should offer good views to tenants.
The historical facade of the Robert Exton and Co building will be retained and incorporated into the design of the building.
Devine managing director David Devine said the organisation’s in-house construction company would build the tower. Ken Lucht and Bruce Baker of Colliers International negotiated
the sale.
Mr Lucht said Devine’s entry into the CBD office market came at a time when the Brisbane market was enjoying record low vacancies and ongoing rental growth.
Michelle Hele
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