Hines Makes $40m Windfall on Brisbane Office Asset

Institutional appetite in Brisbane’s fast-trading office market looks set to continue, with property fund manager Centuria the latest group to enter the fray.

And there’s money to be made—with the vendor of Centuria’s latest acquisition, US property investor Hines, making a cool $40 million on the 11,484sq m office asset in less than two years.

Centuria acquired the IBM-anchored 348 Edward Street asset for $89 million on an initial yield of around 6.5 per cent.

Hines picked up the 15-storey office tower from Brisbane property identity Peter Harburg in late 2016 for $49 million.

Nearby, Sydney investor Fife Capital has picked up the heritage-listed Metro Arts building at 109 Edward Street for $11 million, with the not-for-profit Metro Arts relocating to West End.

Other assets that have recently changed hands in the Brisbane office market include QIC’s Q&A Centre—selling to Taiwanese developer Shayher Group—201 Charlotte, which was picked up by Kyko Group for around $126 million, and 116 Adelaide Street, which was sold by a Malaysian investor for $30 million.

Commercial assets currently on the market include RG Property’s 410 Queen Street and Lendlease’s 66 Eagle Street.

Centuria’s newest buy, the 15-storey 348 Edward Street tower, has a 5.1 year WALE and is 89 per cent occupied.

CBRE’s Flint Davidson, Tom Phipps and Adelaide O’Brien along with JLL’s Seb Turnbull and Luke Billiau handled the sale.

Joint Centuria chief executive Jason Huljich said that the transaction grows the group’s assets under management to $6.6 billion.

“Additionally, Centuria’s listed office REIT, CMA, has recently committed to acquire two A-grade office assets for $380 million and completed a $206 million institutional placement [supporting] these purchases.

“Centuria’s listed industrial REIT, CIP, has also settled four acquisitions for a total consideration of around $80 million since June.”

The property fund manager has been on a capital raising spree of late, flagging plans to diversify into the healthcare sector with a $500 million mandate from European giants AXA Investment Managers and Grosvenor Group.