Sentinel Doubles Down with $72m Canberra Office Deal

Warren Ebert’s Sentinel Property Group has doubled down in the nation’s capital, swooping on its second Canberra office asset in a $72-million deal.

The Doris Blackburn Building sits within the city’s parliamentary precinct at Forrest in the city’s inner-south and is fully leased to a Commonwealth government department.

It was purchased by the Sentinel Canberra Parliamentary Precinct Trust from Charter Hall—a large institutional landlord—for 34 per cent below the replacement cost.

Ebert, the Brisbane-based fund manager’s chief executive, said the group was able to secure the property following a $40-million capital raising. 

“There continues to be strong investor demand for high-quality office assets,” he said.

The acquisition of the A-grade asset at 18 Canberra Avenue follows Sentinel’s purchase of Scarborough House in Canberra’s Woden Town Centre in 2021 for $83 million.

More recently, the group scooped up the 15-storey RACQ House at 60 Edward Street in the Brisbane CBD’s Midtown precinct for $72 million—also significantly below replacement cost.

▲ Sentinel in 2021 paid $83 million for Scarborough House (centre of image).

Sentinel’s second Canberra acquisition is in line with its counter-cyclical investment strategy in which it has continued to circle what it deems “mispriced assets” as the office market has bottomed out.

The four-level, 9646sq m Doris Blackburn Building was developed by Doma Group in 2012. Less than 500m from Parliament House, it has a 5.5 star NABERS energy rating, a 5-star Green Star design and features 250 carparking spaces.

“Canberra is Australia’s fourth largest office market and boasts the lowest vacancy rates across all capital cities of 8.3 per cent,” Ebert said. “Over the next five years, 90 per cent of new office space currently in development is already pre-committed.

“With 2.9 per cent unemployment and a high 70.64 per cent workforce participation rate, Canberra continues to outperform the national average.

“The national capital’s population is projected to surge from 470,000 to 535,000 by 2034, driving demand for premium office space.

“There is also strong infrastructure investment with the ACT and the federal governments having committed $1 billion to Canberra’s light rail expansion, with a proposed plan of Stage 2b for the rail to come within 200 metres of the Doris Blackburn Building.”