Leighton to develop Brisbane CBD project
Leighton Holdings Limited (LEI) subsidiary Leighton Properties Pty Limited said it has entered an agreement to develop and sell a Brisbane CBD Tower to Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) for $210 million. The company said the development is already more than 65% pre-leased and would commence construction immediately with completion scheduled for early 2012.
Leighton Properties managing director, Mark Gray, said the agreement suggests there is a renewed level of confidence in the Australian property market with it being the first major new commercial CBD development to commence construction in Australia since the onset of the global financial crisis.
“There are many commercial projects on hold at present with bank funding difficult to obtain, Mr Gray said.
“Unless developments can commence soon, in two to three years time there will again be a shortage of high quality office accommodation in Australia’s CBDs.”
He added that the development is also targeting world-class levels of sustainability practices.
”The average age of prime office building in Brisbane’s CBD is 25 years,” Mr Gray said.
“The major pre-committing tenancies in King George Central are coming out of older buildings with two of the tenants spread over multiple locations.”
Leighton said the development would be built by Thiess and also be the first in Australia to be publicly supported by the Heart Foundation.
At the close of trade Monday, Leighton shares were trading at $37.14, while CPA shares were trading at 98.5c.
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