One of Brisbane’s most important heritage assets, Corbett Chambers, has sold with a WALE of 2.79 years.
Located at 283 Elizabeth Street in the heart of the city’s Golden Triangle, Corbett Chambers has been purchased by Silverstone.
Knight Frank agents Blake Goddard, Matt Barker and Justin Bond negotiated the sale on behalf of Professor John Corbett and his wife Lorraine Corbett who’s price expectations were in excess of $20m.
Next door to St Stephen’s Cathedral and adjoining the Blue Tower – sold recently by Knight Frank and CBRE – Corbett Chambers has undergone a spectacular refurbishment in recent years.
This helped create strong interest among prospective buyers also drawn by its proximity to landmark office towers, the Brisbane River, Howard Smith Wharves, Eagle Street and Queen Street Mall.
The building was originally designed by prominent Brisbane architect Claude William Chambers for the Commercial Travellers Association (CTA). Completed in 1907, it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2004.
The CTA sold the building to the Commonwealth in 1963. Renamed Telecommunications House, it was home to the Postmaster General’s marketing and commercial section until 1975, then Telecom until 1991.
In 2009, the Corbett Family bought Telecommunications House and embarked on a major works program that included its renaming to Corbett Chambers, honouring both the vendor family and architect Claude Chambers.
“The modernisation we have undertaken is truly state of the art, although the character of the building is as present as ever,” said Lorraine Corbett.
“Our goal was always to respect, enhance and maintain the heritage features and appeal of this magnificent building. Long an important part of Brisbane’s history, it is now ideally placed to continue to flourish in the future.”
Major tenants at Corbett Chambers include highly reputed restaurant Corbett & Claude (the name also acknowledging the Corbett family and architect Claude Chambers), JGL Properties, investment managers Alvia Asset Partners and commercial fit-out contractor Valmont.
The building at 283 Elizabeth Street has 2,121sqm of commercial net lettable area, including 1,712sqm of office space and 409sqm of basement retail space. It sits on a 551sqm site.
Silverstone Managing Director Troy Daffy said: “We are very excited to purchase the property and add it to our growing commercial investment portfolio. The property is in an amazing location and will benefit from all the works that are about to occur in Eagle Street.
“Silverstone now has six heritage listed assets and we are immensely passionate about retaining these beautiful buildings. Our strategy will be to fully lease the building and own it long term.”
Knight Frank’s Blake Goddard said Corbett Chambers attracted more than sixty enquiries from potential buyers, resulting in six offers.
“It is such a beautifully presented heritage building, it was always going to appeal to high-net-worth investors looking for a trophy asset,” he said.
“Although it was our view the likely purchaser was going to be a private, we did have interest from syndicate groups and smaller funds who appreciated the prime position of the asset along with strong occupancy history.”
Knight Frank’s Matt Barker said: “Although it was sold with some vacancy, the building appeals to the most active leasing market being sub 500 square metres. The new owners are confident that under the right leasing conditions, the remaining vacancies can be filled reasonably quickly.”
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