Why Sentinel is Betting Big on Olympic City Office Sector

You can take the driver out of the taxi but… Well, at least in Warren Ebert’s case—you can’t take away the unique perspective, street smarts and valuable insights that enabled him not only to navigate city traffic for hours but also take a major detour and build a $2.4-billion property investment empire. In the late 1980s, the Sentinel Property Group chief executive was still driving cabs around Brisbane, picking up and dropping off shoppers, visitors, workers and executives from assets he now runs the rule over. Steering a fund manager specialising in strategic commercial property invesments, his eyes are still on the road ahead. But what’s he looking for? “Value—I’ll buy anything … we’re about making money,” he bluntly tells The Urban Developer . At the moment, Ebert’s counter-cyclical investment gaze is particularly focused on Brisbane’s office sector and northern Australia’s emerging opportunities. And Sentinel’s recent $132-million purchase of Green Square South at 505 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley—the most expensive acquisition of an office asset in its 15-year history—epitomises his pragmatic approach. Close to key venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, the five-level 17,618sq m A-grade office building with 355 car parks is fully leased to the Brisbane City Council. It is the first property in the Sentinel Games Precinct Trust and was secured on a 13.54 per cent yield at a $73-million discount to previous book value, following a $86.1-million capital raising. In October last year, Sentinel sealed a $72-million deal for the 15-storey RACQ House at 60 Edward Street in the CBD—less than half the asset’s estimated replacement value of $152 million. ▲ Warren Ebert: I’ll buy anything … we’re about making money. “I’ve never been big on office, particularly city office, because the incentives are too high. But there’s a window now,” Ebert says. Supply constraints—driven by multiple factors, notably the 2032 Olympics and massive infrastructure projects—have created a fundamental shift in Brisbane’s commercial real estate landscape ahead of the Games. “You can’t build anything at an economic price right now,” Ebert says. “Speaking to one of the major office landlords, they said for them to build their next office project in Brisbane they’ve got to get rents of $1700 per square metre.” But he says at the same time Brisbane’s forecast population growth is such that it will require 473,000sq m of new office space by 2032. “Brisbane CBD already has the lowest vacancy in Australia. There’s such a shortage of office space and with the Olympics coming up, and $184-billion worth of infrastructure projects to be delivered, stuff that has to be done—you know, rail, road, accommodation—office has got to be last on the list. “The problem isn’t the money available. The problem is we don’t have the people to build. “We need another 38,000 workers today for the projects we’ve got on and they say by the peak we’ll need 54,000 to build all the infrastructure that we need. “But then we’ve got to build houses for those 54,000…and you’ve got to have schools, shops and hospitals. “Offices? Hey, f***ing suck it up sunshine. I don’t see how it’s possible. “So when you can buy it at half replacement cost now—a building that ticks the boxes, as far as floor plates, public transport, cars—why wouldn’t you?” Sentinel is also seeking to tap into increasing enthusiasm in Brisbane from potential overseas investors—particularly from Singapore and Japan—in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics. ▲ Sentinel’s paid $132-million for Green Square South at Fortitude Valley. The five-storey A-grade office building is fully leased to the Brisbane City Council. “It was always Sydney number one, Melbourne number two … but Melbourne’s gone, it’s f***ed. So now they’re asking about Brisbane,” Ebert says. And he says the transformative potential of the River City hosting the Games cannot be overstated. “Before we were awarded the Olympics, 3 per cent of the world population knew where Brisbane was. By the time we have the Olympics, 90 per cent of the world’s population will know where Brisbane is. And I think we all know what that does for any city.” Meanwhile, Ebert is equally bullish about the significant investment opportunities further north, particularly in Darwin . “There’s plenty of good stuff happening up north,” he says. By the end of July, he is expecting to seal a $60-million deal for an industrial asset that will bring Sentinel’s exposure in the Top End to $700 million. “The replacement cost is about $90 million, the asset’s about 10 years old so it’s in very good condition, it’s a massive chunk of land down near the port, triple-A tenants and we’re buying it on [a yield of] around 9.5 per cent. If it was in Sydney it’d be 5.5 per cent,” he says. “We’re also working on something up in Townsville at the moment that’s about a third of replacement cost.” Overall, Sentinel has a growing portfolio of northern assets valued at more than $1.5 billion from Mackay and beyond. “The north is just about to boom and we’re its largest investor,” Ebert says. “There’s some major resource projects about to start up and Australia not only needs those resources to build but it needs the income.” Sounds like quite a taxi ride ahead.

Why Sentinel is Betting Big on Olympic City Office Sector

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