This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A $90 million late-2022 completed A-grade office redevelopment by SC Capital Partners and Artifex is seeing strong levels of leasing success indicating growing demand in Canberra’s Civic.
The revitalised Central Village, formerly known as the Finlay Crisp Centre, comprises 30,000sqm of office and community space, with around 20,000sqm occupied by the ACT government.
Singaporean-based SC Capital Partners acquired the 1988-constructed Finlay Crisp Centre back in April of 2019 for $62 million from Dexus, at the time announcing plans to undertake a $50 million refurbishment in partnership with local asset manager Artifex Property Group.
“SC Capital Partners and Artifex Property Group’s mandate is to demonstrate high sustainability can apply to older assets with clever adaptive re-use design to become ‘best in class’ for the end users,” said Nick Timmins, partner at Artifex.
“The focus is on the global thematic of ‘liveability’ for commercial assets. The ACT Government has also been very progressive in supporting this approach.”
Andrew Balzanelli and Troy McGuinness from JLL have been exclusively appointed to lease the commercial space.
“The new Central Village has been well received from local, national and international corporates, given the impressive nature of the refurbishment, surrounding amenities and its location,” said Balzanelli.
“The final building is currently 50% under offer, with strong active interest in various suites and floors. A number of organisations have signed and agreed terms, ranging from legal, financial services and insurance groups.”
At the centre of the project is 5 Constitution Avenue, a 12-storey tower, while the government’s occupancy spans two of the three buildings, Allara House and Nara Centre.
“The redevelopment has quickly become a destination for businesses seeking premium office space in the heart of Canberra, and its impact is being felt positively by the wider precinct and business community,” said McGuinness.
“The refurbishment of Central Village, including its ground floor plane and plaza, has already provided significant investment into Civic’s local businesses, revitalising and activating the city’s edge on one of Canberra’s most important avenues.”
Central Village is an example of a “place making and adaptive re-use project” and includes a central pavilion and connected ground floor combining quality food and beverage, fluid meeting places and commercial space above.
“Demand for quality A Grade office space continues to drive occupancy rates with the current vacancy rates for Canberra A-Grade buildings, sitting at 5.1%,” added Balzanelli.
“This high-quality refurbishment exceeds private enterprise expectations, and the aspect of the building offers mountain, lake and city views, with park-like boulevard outlooks from the lower floor.”
The leasing team has also secured café Two Before Ten h to operate two sites in the revitalised ground floor plane and plaza.
“The repositioning of the immediate vicinity has brought up the liveability for everyone in the complex and nearby neighbours, and has boosted amenity to the Eastern City precinct, the administrative heart of the city,” concluded Balzanelli.
