- HThree City Australia has made its debut, acquiring Melbourne’s 446 Collins Street office building for $72,625,000 to a Vantage Property Investments client
- The 12-storey freehold building accommodates a net lettable area of more than 5500 sqm and features a 4-star NABERS energy rating
- HThree CEO Kevin Kang says the company is bullish on the office sector
- The sale of 446 Collins Street, according to CBRE’s Mr Pillai, demonstrates continued buyer interest in Melbourne investment opportunities
HThree City Australia has purchased Melbourne’s 446 Collins Street office skyscraper from a Vantage Property Investments client for $72,625,000.
HThree’s first purchase in Australia, the property is located near the corner of Collins and Queen Streets, in the western core of Melbourne’s CBD.
The 12-storey freehold building accommodates a net lettable area of more than 5500 sqm and features a 4-star NABERS energy rating.
CBRE’s Kiran Pillai, Scott McGlone, Mark Coster and Stuart McCann negotiated the off-market sale during a particularly difficult period, when both Melbourne and Singapore were under COVID-19-induced lockdowns.
HThree CEO Kevin Kang said despite lockdowns in both Singapore and Melbourne, he was proud of his team and said the company was bullish on the office sector.
“Notwithstanding the increasing prevalence of work-from-home arrangements, we are strong believers in the office sector and even more so of the Melbourne office market,” he said.
“There will always be a need for companies to have a physical office space, although the form of the office environment as we know it now will evolve over time.”
The sale of 446 Collins Street, according to CBRE’s Mr Pillai, demonstrates continued buyer interest for Melbourne investment opportunities.
“The strength and speed of the deal speaks volumes in relation to the emphasis that international investors are placing on continued investment into Melbourne,” he said.
“As other major markets in the region re-open and vaccination rates surge locally, we are seeing both international and local groups placing more and more focus on the office sector as the return to the office effort builds momentum.”
HThree’s legal consultants on the property transaction were Herbert Smith Freehills’ David Sinn and Julia Orbach. Ashurst’s Ken Nguyen and Sophie Ng advised on the property finance.
“This investment by HThree continues to demonstrate the strength of the Australian commercial real estate market, despite the current COVID challenges, and the strong investment flows from Singaporean investors who have been one of the largest sources of foreign capital into Australia over the past 12 months,” Mr Sinn said.
Following the acquisition of 446 Collins Street, HThree will continue to explore opportunities to expand its Australian portfolio in the Australian office market as part of its investment mandate.