This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
FLEXIBLE workspace provider Hub Australia will open a new 3,000 sqm offering in Richmond as activity kicks up along Melbourne’s eastern fringe office market.
Hub Australia has committed to a 12 year lease over two floors at Salta Properties and Abacus Property Group’s Industry Lanes commercial and mixed use development at 459-471 Church Street.
The new workspace will occupy the fourth and fifth floors and will incorporate a café, business lounge and a concierge, plus a large 200 sqm wrap around terrace with city and suburban views.
Yet to be constructed, the new purpose-built headquarters will be located at 462-482 Swan Street, currently home to Mitchell Building Supplies – owned by the site landlords the Agosta family.
Hub Australia CEO Brad Krauskopf said he has watched the Richmond and Cremorne area develop into Melbourne’s equivalent of Silicon Valley, and is excited that Hub will soon offer Industry Lanes as a premium flexible workspace.
“We believe appropriate workplace design helps drive creativity and productivity, plus caters to enterprising workforces with ever-increasing appetites for wellness and socially engaging areas. Industry Lanes is unique in the way that it has pulled this together,” Krauskopf said.
“Over the past decade, we have seen co-working evolve to deliver a premium hospitality-led experience, which Hub differentiates itself by. We feel there is a great opportunity for our product to support the professionals, scale-ups, corporates and government teams that now choose Richmond as their preferred location for their offices.”
The site has a net lettable area of 18,000 sqm, which includes 1,346 sqm for retailers, 490 sqm of end of trip facilities, plus 160 carpark spaces, and targeting a 5 Star Green Star rating.
Hub’s new deal comes as demand for hybrid and remote working grows. But for some people, Work From Home is not always practical, so demand for Work Near Home and Work from Anywhere is growing.
The City of Stonnington is working to reinvigorate its shopping strips and precincts, including looking at options to increase commercial office space.
This week Australian Property Journal reported that Asia workspace on demand platform and PropTech mobile application Switch has launched down under, and is working with coworking space providers by allowing people to Work From Anywhere for the price of a cup of coffee.
Meanwhile after a period of uncertainty across the office market, Australia Post became one of the first multibillion corporations to move out of Melbourne’s CBD post-COVID, in favour of the inner suburb of Richmond after agreeing to anchor a new $130 million Charter Hall office complex.
Next door at 484 Swan Street, and directly adjacent to Burnley train station, will be home to a $190 million speculative commercial development that will rise 13 stories and bring 17,000 sqm of commercial offices. Clement Lee’s Riverlee is building that in partnership with Bamfa Properties, headed by Adam Agosta.
And a connection to Bamfa Nominees has just bought an office site at 182-184 Stawell Street in neighbouring Burnley. CBRE negotiated the circa $15 million sale.
The 2,311sqm landholding has a two-level, 1,750 sqm office building with 40 car spaces and is partially tenanted, generating current annual income of more than $412,000 and offering significant value-add potential as well as considerable scope for future development. Close by, Salta has plans for a $50 million office building at 173-177 Barkly Avenue.
Closer to the city, Fortis showed it is backing demand for city fringe offices, last week adding a 1,850 sqm site in Cremorne to its development portfolio with plans for a new $130 million commercial building.
Also signing up for Industry Lanes is 1R, a new, no contract, high-octane fitness offering that will take up 450 sqm over the ground and basement levels.
“The development offers first-class amenities with an activated internal courtyard and is conveniently located three kilometres from the CBD, with public transport and urban green spaces only minutes away,” said Salta Properties’ managing director, Sam Tarascio said.
“Hub Australia is a leader in the coworking space sector and we hope their clients enjoy working from Industry Lanes, it’s a new world workplace for the new world employee.”
Backing hybrid work arrangements, Hub Australia and rival WOTSO have struck an alliance that will see their respective CBD and suburban-focused offerings open to the rivals’ combined 7,000 members.
Richard Hansen, Victorian state manager for Hansen Yuncken, the construction company that is building Industry Lanes, said the precinct will soon offer a world class commercial campus and exciting retail opportunities.
The façade will be finalised over the coming months, the buildings will be made watertight and the tower cranes will come down before the final fit out and finishes to complete the innovative precinct’s three buildings and common areas.
