Charter Hall’s future-ready office underway in Melbourne

Charter Hall Group has officially marked the commencement of construction at its $1.5 billion 555 Collins Street precinct. This innovative commercial precinct is the largest commercial development in Melbourne’s CBD to begin construction in 2021 and will be the future home of Amazon’s corporate offices in Melbourne.

A ceremony was today hosted on site to celebrate the foundations being poured for the precinct’s first stage. Guests included Victorian Treasurer The Hon Tim Pallas MP, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp, Amazon Web Services Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand Adam Beavis, Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO David Harrison, Charter Hall Office CEO Carmel Hourigan and construction partner Lendlease’s General Manager Victoria Bill Alexandrakis.

Stage 1 construction of 555 Collins Street will generate approximately 1,500 jobs for Victorians.

Victorian Treasurer, The Hon Tim Pallas MP, said city-shaping projects like 555 Collins Street are key to the Melbourne CBD’s future as a vibrant, economic hub.

“This is significant for Melbourne and incredible news for jobs and our highly skilled workforce – this investment will contribute billions of dollars to the Victorian tech economy in the next 10 years and cement our position as the home of innovation in the nation,” said Mr Pallas.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the $1.5 billion 555 Collins Street project showed the resilience in the city’s economy coming out of the COVID-19 downturn.

“Our city’s economic recovery is strengthening and this project will be a catalyst for further investment in this area of the CBD,” said the Lord Mayor.

“1,500 construction jobs will be created as work gets underway and another crane in the sky is a sign of the confidence in our city’s economic future.”

Owned by the Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF), Stage 1 of 555 Collins Street will comprise a $750 million, 48,000 square metre Premium Grade office tower on the corner of Collins Street and King Street. The Stage 2 office tower will comprise 32,000 square metres. The ground plane will connect seamlessly into Melbourne’s midtown, providing a premium food and beverage hub and the landmark health and wellbeing offering will provide a space for tenant customers to focus on their health, relax and rejuvenate during their workday.

Accommodating up to 7,500 CBD workers, the design of the two buildings actively responds to the new COVID-19 operating environment, with next-generation Smart Building technology that monitors air quality and touchless amenities to support enhanced health, hygiene and wellness.

Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO, David Harrison said: “With an Office Portfolio comprising $21.2 billion funds under management, Charter Hall are industry leaders in providing inspiring, engaging and healthy workplaces for our business partners and tenant customers, and this is what we’re delivering at our visionary 555 Collins Street project.

“The landmark development will add to the vibrancy of Melbourne’s CBD and provide a state-of-the-art, future-ready workplace to valued organisations like Amazon.

“Charter Hall is proud to be moving construction forward onsite at 555 Collins Street, to continue to develop our portfolio of high quality assets for our investors and tenant customers, while creating more jobs for Victorians,” said Mr Harrison.

Charter Hall Office CEO, Carmel Hourigan said: “We are delighted to welcome Amazon as the anchor tenant at 555 Collins Street, which demonstrates that major corporates are focused on delivering quality workplace environments for their employees.”

Amazon Web Services Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, Adam Beavis said: “We’re excited to be part of the reinvigoration of Melbourne CBD, by strengthening our local presence in the Victorian economy. Melbourne has a rich community of innovators, and we are looking forward to bringing Amazon’s growing local workforce to 555 Collins Street so we can continue to invent and innovate on behalf of customers across our Amazon and AWS businesses in Australia. 555 Collins comes with a 6 Star Green rating and is constructed under a carbon neutral framework, which will contribute to helping us reach our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040.”

The design of 555 Collins Street is the result of a unique collaboration between Charter Hall as the owner and developer, and COX Architecture and Gensler. The building’s design centres around the human experience, with particular attention to social, collaborative and creative experiences designed to foster connection and provide a more engaging workday. The future-proofed workplace will provide flexibility and empower tenants and their people to work in their own authentic way.

Practical completion of Stage 1 of 555 Collins Street is scheduled for early 2023.