This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
BILLIONAIRE property tycoon Lang Walker has decided not to go ahead with the sale of the $2.58 billion Collins Square precinct in Melbourne’s Docklands.
Walker put the precinct on the market in November last year in a sale process managed by UBS’s Tim Church.
The sale was expected to be the largest single mixed-use retail and office precinct sale in Australia’s history – eclipsing Morgan Stanley’s sale of Investa Property Group’s nine office properties portfolio to sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation in July last year for $2.5 billion.
Walker reportedly received three bids for the precinct with yields around 5% and it was rumoured that Singapore-Malaysia backed CIMB Trust Capital was one of the interested parties.
In 2012-2013, CIMB Trust Capital bought $505 million worth of properties from Walker Corporation, including 3 Collins Square, the Australian Taxation Office building for $279 million and 50 Marcus Clarke St Canberra for $226 million.
The final tower at Collins Square is due for completion in 2017.
When it is completed, Collins Square will comprise five office towers and the refurbished Goods Shed South offering in excess of 250,000 sqm of office space, 10,000 sqm of retail space and a childcare centre, occupying an entire city block.
Tenants at the precinct include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Maddocks, KPMG, Marsh Mercer, Transurban, Penguin Random House and Pearson, Link Group, Mott MacDonald and AECOM.
Australian Property Journal
