This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RICHMOND has become one of Melbourne's most sought fringe office markets, buoyed by sales and leasing deals.
Colliers International Melbourne East director in charge Rob Joyes businesses were flocking to Church St.
The latest lease is to direct marketing company, Smart Group, for 2,700 sqm on a five-year lease at Building 10, 658 Church St Richmond.
Joyes, who negotiated the lease on behalf of landlord Australand, said the lease was struck at commencing rent of $315 per sqm.
“Smart Group were already a tenant in the Church St precinct, but had outgrown their existing premises. This deal at Building 10, 658 Church St is arguably the biggest leasing deal in Richmond this year when it comes to existing backfill space,” he concluded.
Joyes said tenants are really focused on finding space in high density city areas – they are intent on tapping into that Generation Y workforce for human capital purposes – and Richmond is the top of their list.
“We are seeing a definite theme among the businesses settling into the Church St precinct – IT, apparel, advertising agencies and direct marking companies are really honing in on the Richmond area and Church St in particular, as a great place to operate from,”
Further endorsement of the precinct’s popularity the sale, earlier this year, of Building 3,658 Church St in excess of $29 million to a private investor and the recent confirmation of the REA Group’s pre-commitment to 4,000 sqm of office space at 511 Church St.
“Here we have another online/IT business that is doing really well, who has been attracted to the area,” Joyes said. “This is a trend that we began to notice some 12 months ago, when Carsales.com.au relocated from Hawthorn to Richmond.”
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