This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CROMWELL Property Group has pulled out all stops to secure Melbourne's suburban railway operator Metro Trains as an major tenant at its $172 million office building at 700 Collins St.
According to industry sources, Metro Trains is finalising the leasing deal to relocate its head office from 1 Spring St to 700 Collins St at the Docklands precinct.
Metro Trains is a joint venture between Hong Kong based MTR Corporation (60%), John Holland Group (20%) and UGL Rail (20%).
It is believed that Metro Trains has leased approximately 8,000 sqm of space.
The rent struck is approximately $410 per sqm net and incentives offered were in the vicinity of 33-34%, according to sources.
The leasing deal is a major coup of Cromwell, which has shrugged off the loss of ASX-listed health insurer Medibank to Cbus Property’s 720 Bourke St, also in Docklands.
Medibank moved out this year creating 12,500 sqm of backfill space in the building.
Although the Metro Trains lease is significant, there is still some 7,000 sqm of vacant space remaining in the building.
Places Victoria, formerly VicUrban, previously leased 5,000 sqm within the building. However after the previous government restructured the state development agency and downsized the workforce from 250 people to 70, it longer required such a large footprint and relocated next door, to 710 Collins St.
Currently the major tenant in the building is the Bureau of Meteorology, which occupies approximately 16,000 sqm.
700 Collins St is a 17-level office tower and comprises 33,848 sqm of office space plus ground floor retail and a three-level car park for 304 vehicles cars
Australian Property Journal
