Brisbane Office Landmark Deal

26 March 2021

Cornerstone Properties appear to have finally succeeded in their fix and flip strategy of 310 Ann Street Brisbane.

The Group acquired the property with JV partner FA Pidgeon & Son for $63m in 2012. At that time, Suncorp fully occupied the building but vacated in 2015, leaving an opportunity to create a more contemporary product for the current market.

Cornerstore Properties appointed Hutchinson to strip back the building to its skeleton, and completely redefine the asset at a cost of circa $60m. Works included expanded floors plates (from 970sqm to 1,147sqm), new ceiling heights, new floor-to-ceiling glass facade, new amenities, a new 13-metre-high foyer, new streetscape and awnings.

The 20-level tower provides a net lettable area of 18,362 sqm and benefits from a 5.5-star NABERS Energy rating.

Cornerstone Properties secured new tenants including Allianz Worldwide Partners and the Queensland government.

A sale of the asset to a UBS client was announced in May 2019 for $220m however that sale did not proceed. CBRE’s Bruce Baker, Flint Davidson and Peter Chapple together with JLL’s Seb Turnbull and Paul Noonan introduced AsheMorgan to the property and concluded a deal at $210m on behalf of Cornerstone.

The sale price reflects an initial yield of circa 5.5% and confirms the ongoing investor interest in well leased commercial assets in core CBD locations.

Ashe Morgan invested heavily in Brisbane in 2017 – 2019 with $500m of acquisitions, including 295 Ann Street, 140 Creek Street and 232 Adelaide Street, all part of the Oxford portfolio.