Charter Hall Secures Another Major Tenant for Wesley Place

Charter Hall has confirmed that it has secured investment services firm Vanguard as a major tenant at the $600 million Wesley Place development in Melbourne’s CBD.

As flagged previously, the Charter Hall Office Trust won Vanguard’s precommitment in November — along with two super funds, Cbus and Telstra Super, allowing Charter Hall to commence construction on its landmark $600 million Wesley Place project located at 130 Lonsdale Street.

In early January, Charter Hall received development approval from the Victorian government for a $200 million A-grade office tower at 140 Lonsdale Street. According to Charter Hall, the fund’s total investment in the Wesley Place precinct, including the properties at 130, 140 and 150 Lonsdale Street, will rise to $1 billion upon completion.

The new 10-year lease to Vanguard covers approximately 10,500sq m across six floors, taking the new office tower’s committed net lettable area to approximately 55 per cent.

Wesley Place is located within the north-eastern core of Melbourne’s CBD, one of the most tightly held office precincts with a vacancy rate of 2.3 per cent and limited new development supply in the medium term.

Vanguard will join Telstra Super and Cbus Super who will locate their head offices at the address with Wesley Mission Victoria and Uniting Church in Australia also committing to long term leases.

[Related reading: Charter Hall's $450 Million Brisbane Square Office Tower]

Charter Hall’s Office chief executive Adrian Taylor said that the growth in tenant demand has validated Charter Hall’s decision to develop the precinct.

The Wesley Place project, designed by Cox Architecture, comprises a new technology enabled Premium-Grade tower with 58,000 square meters of vertical campus style office and premium retail space across 35 floors.

Lendlease's construction arm started preparatory work on the site in early November.