This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A $10 million upgrade of the Gold Coast’s 50 Cavill Avenue office tower has paid off for owner GDI Property Group, with the asset now more than 90% occupied after being acquired at the beginning of last year at just 54% occupancy.
The strategy echoes GDI’s program at its 5 Mill Street building in Perth’s CBD, which was announced last week as fully leased after languishing at nearly 40% vacant in 2013, and comes soon after AMP Capital confirmed it had secured 17 leases over 12 months following the upgrade of its 28-storey 140 St Georges Terrace building.
Works on the 22-level 50 Cavill Avenue tower included upgrades to common area, new lifts, energy efficiency measures targeting a 5-star NABERS rating, high speed fibre optic internet, new end-of-trip facilities and landscaping, as well as the introduction of a café and bar on-site.
It also has 500 basement car parks and free two-hour client parking.
The building counts Mantra Group, Regus, Nine Gold Coast News, CBRE, and Maven Dental amongst its tenants.
“Once the message was delivered to market that long overdue change was taking place in the building we were inundated with enquiry, which has flowed to over 20 new leases being entered into and a number under negotiation at present,” CBRE’s associate director Nick Selbie said.
“What is also pleasing and a further vote of confidence is the fact that many existing tenants have renewed and in most cases actually expanded.”
Selbie said there is a distinct lack or shortage of high quality office space on the Gold Coast at present, and tenants are happy to pay for it provided the product reflects the commercial terms.
The top level of the building is on offer, having not been actively marketed during the refurbishment, and features panoramic views of the coastal, hinterland and the Nerang River.
At 5 Mill Street, the signature of IT company PrimeQ completed the overhaul of the 11-storey, 7,175 sqm B-grade building, which is the middle tower of three that make up Mill Green, on the corner of St Georges Terrace.
Colliers International’s Dustin May and Daniel Taylor oversaw the 5 Mill Street leasing campaign, alongside Warren Wright and Nick Van Helden of JLL, which they said straddled one of the most competitive times in Perth’s office market and included a raft of expiring leases.
May said GDI Property Group invested in a comprehensive upgrade of the complex, and divided up floor plates and used speculative fit-outs to open up the building to smaller tenants.
“From a building with a mix of multi-floor tenants and some split floors, 5 Mill Street is now home to 33 tenants, including smaller tenants from West Perth and suburban businesses from north and south of the river,” he said.
Similarly, AMP Capital had fitted-out the upper floors of 140 St Georges Terrace to attract a wider variety of business to the tower, particularly medium-sized, time-poor operators looking for ready-to-go workspaces.
The new version of the 50 Cavill Avenue building will be opened by Perry Cross later this month. GDI donated free office space for the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation within the building last year for work in raising funds for a clinical trial at Griffith University.
Australian Property Journal
