This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GLOBAL insurer Allianz will relocate its South Australian office to Walker Corporation’s One Festival Tower, as part of a national strategy to uplift its employee experience with premium A-Grade office space, with new digs also announced for Melbourne and Brisbane.
The 10-year lease pre-commitments to 90% at One Festival Tower, where Allianz joins Deloitte, Flinders University and Mott MacDonald. About 4,000 workers will eventually call the tower home.
Allianz will be among the first tenants to move into the city’s tallest all-electric tower next year, occupying almost 4,000 sqm across levels 15 and 16.
Allianz general manager workplace services, Gwendy Arnot, said moving to One Festival Tower allows the company to introduce seamless technology and increase flexibility while prioritising health and wellbeing.
“Our focus on bright, collaborative and sustainable spaces is key to leveraging one of our most important assets – our people – in the most productive way.”
The major insurer is fresh from announcing a relocation in Brisbane, to Central Plaza at 345 Queen Street, in a 10-year lease across three floors after ISPT invested more than $30 million on refurbishments in the last five years, including a multimillion-dollar ground floor, annex redevelopment and dedicated facilities.
At the start of the year, Allianz announced a pre-commitment to 6,500 sqm at Charter Hall’s $1.5 billion Melbourne project, 555 Collins Street.
Walker CEO David Gallant said Allianz’s move to One Festival Tower reinforces the significant market shift towards premium A-grade towers in Adelaide.
“The flight to quality is undeniable. Adelaide CBD has had one of the lowest proportions of A-grade stock in the country but One Festival Tower is setting the benchmark for the businesses demanding modern, connected and sustainable places to bring their teams back to the office.”
Desire for an improved human experience is driving tenants towards prime grade office assets. Research from Knight Frank and Property Council of Australia indicates that despite Adelaide bringing a record 92,000 sqm-plus of premium commercial space to the market, a significant portion of it is already pre-committed.
JLL data shows that Adelaide’s premium vacancies are at just 5.8%, while A-grade vacancies are at 23.1% and B-grade at 17.3%.
“High-quality offices are in high demand because companies of all shapes and sizes are adjusting their leasing strategies to include premium space, which means Adelaide needs more A-grade assets to cater to a changing market,” said Knight Frank head of commercial valuations, partner valuation & advisory, Nick Bell.
One Festival Tower is designed to achieve a 6-Star Green Star rating, a 5.5-star NABERS rating and connections to all major transport links including trains, trams, buses and cycle paths.
