Singaporean developer Tong Eng Group buys St Kilda Road tower

Singaporean developer Tong Eng Group has paid $116.3 million for a St Kilda Road tower.

The building on 5 Queens Road, was built in 1989and features new end-of-trip facilities with 104 lockers and 56 bike racks; floor plates of 1,680sqm and 325 bays across two levels of basement car parking.

Located opposite Albert Park, the 11-storey tower has a net lettable area of 17,500sqm and tenants such as Unico Computer Systems, Beca and Shape.

CBRE’s Michael Andrews, Luke Etherington and Kiran Pillai – in conjunction with Colliers’ Leigh Melbourne and Nick Rathgeber – managed the sale campaign on behalf of Charter Hall.

Trent James, CHOT fund manager, said recent divestments, including Queens Road, provides an opportunity to divest non-core assets above book value, with capital to be redeployed into core CBD acquisitions.

“This transaction reconfirm the CHOT’s focus on being an active seller in order to enhance returns for our capital partners,” he said.

Some $9 million has been spent on upgrades since 2011 with the building now having the only 5 Star NABERS rating in the area.

CBRE’s Mr Andrews said the strong sale result, which reflected an initial yield of circa 5.6 percent, highlighted the strength of demand for quality assets in the precinct.

“Charter Hall has completed a significant capital works program and leasing project on the building in recent years, which has positioned the asset as best in class,” Mr Andrews said.

“This strategy underpinned strong interest from both offshore and local groups and ultimately delivered one of the sharpest ever sale results within the precinct.

Terence Teo, Director of Feature Queens Pty Ltd (a unit of the Tong Eng Group), said the building is at a fantastic location at the confluence of Queens Road, Kingsway and St Kilda Road, and offers unrivalled protected views over Albert Park and Port Philip Bay.