This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CROMWELL Property Group has made two major plays on either of the Sydney CBD, following its purchase of the Altitude Corporate Centre in Mascot with the $300 million divestment of a half share in the Northpoint Tower to co-owner, Hong Kong toy manufacturing billionaire Francis Choi.
Choi’s company Early Light now takes full control of the 44-level tower after acquiring a 50% stake in August last year from Redefine Properties.
Since April of 2017, Choi has also purchased the Exchange Centre in Bridge Street from Malaysia’s KWAP for $335 million, and 1 Castlereagh Street for more than $220 million in December from US giant Blackstone.
Constructed in 1977, ASX-listed Cromwell acquired its stake in 100 Miller Street for $139.35 million in December of 2013, and began a $130 million redevelopment at the start of 2016 that reached completion in March last year.
The redevelopment was centred on catering to demand for retail, dining and leisure from North Sydney’s growing professional population. The lower level of the overhauled precinct focuses on convenience retail, and the upper level on dining and leisure, including a rooftop bar.
An eight-storey, 187-room Vibe Hotel was also constructed, complete with conference facilities, as well as a rooftop pool and gym.
Northpoint has is less than 100 metres from the future site of the Victoria Cross metro station, and is positioned on a high-profile triangular site with frontage to Pacific Highway.
“Cromwell continues to identify value- enhancing investment opportunities across both its Indirect and Direct Property Investment segment that will deliver medium-term growth in enterprise value and realise significant capital returns for securityholders,” Cromwell’s chief investment officer, Rob Percy said.
“We will continue to recycle capital which, in conjunction with the placement, will allow us to accelerate the execution of our ‘invest to manage’ strategy. Northpoint Tower is a great example of what we can achieve, identifying and realising value in what was very much an unloved asset.”
Cromwell had just purchased the Altitude Corporate Centre in Sydney’s Mascot for $113.28 million from Goodman Group.
The fully leased A-grade building of 13,500 sqm across 10-storeys, at 163-175 O’Riordan Street, has a weighted average lease expiry of 6.8 years, with tenants including Electrolux and Winc who have both recently committed to 10-year leases, and brings nearly $7 million in rent each year.
The property also has 355 parking spaces, and has a 5-Star NABERS Energy rating and a 5-Star Green Star rating.
It will sit in the Cromwell Direct Property Fund, which now has a portfolio of 10 office, retail and industrial properties across Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia, with a WALE of 8.2 years.
“Altitude Corporate Centre will further diversify the Fund’s holdings by geography and tenant profile,” head of retail funds management at Cromwell, Hamish Wehl said.
Cromwell has just successfully completed a $375 million raising to help fund over $1.0 billion of identified acquisition opportunities across Australia and Europe.
The proceeds, along with recycled capital from asset sales, will also provide certainty of funding for over $1.0 billion of value-add development opportunities in Cromwell’s Australian portfolio.
