Knight Frank has appointed joint heads of office leasing in Victoria, further strengthening the service offering of the firm’s Melbourne’s office.
Simon Hale and Chas Keogh have both been given the title of Partner, Joint Head of Office Leasing, Victoria.
Simon has been promoted to the role following 15 years at Knight Frank in Victoria’s Office Leasing team, while Chas has moved to Knight Frank from Cushman and Wakefield, where he was Joint Head of Office Leasing for the past decade.
Chas has more than 23 years’ experience in commercial property leasing, including a previous role at CBRE. He has led major transactions across not only Melbourne, but Sydney, Perth and New Zealand, working on both new developments and significant refurbishments for institutional and private clients.
Victoria’s office leasing team now has seven operators and two support staff, with plans for an imminent expansion.
Hamish Sutherland, who previously held the role of Knight Frank’s Head of Office Leasing in Victoria will remain as Partner in the team, choosing this period in his career to focus on transactions after holding the leadership role for 13 years.
Knight Frank Partner, Managing Director, Victoria Dominic Long said the appointment of Simon and Chas to head up Office Leasing in Victoria for Knight Frank built on the team’s recent successes.
“Victoria’s office leasing team completed three of the four largest deals in the Melbourne CBD over the last financial year,” he said.
“The appointment of Simon and Chas as Joint Heads of Office Leasing will strengthen Knight Frank’s offering in this space in Victoria.
“Both Simon and Chas are highly experienced and very respected in the market, and their expertise will be of huge benefit to our clients.
“These appointments follow strong recruitment in our wider Victorian office over the past 10 months to bolster our teams, with 17 new people joining the business.”
Mr Keogh said he was excited to join Knight Frank and expand the team as the market strengthens.
“Our team has strong expertise in the Melbourne CBD, Southbank and Docklands, and we plan to build in these markets and then extend to the city fringe, as we build on our successes over the past financial year,” he said.
“Having been in the industry for a long time I have strong relationships with many of the existing team at Knight Frank and I’m looking forward to working with some of the best operators in the market.
“The rhetoric hasn’t been nice for the Melbourne Office market however we believe our clients should be excited about the journey ahead. I can’t see anything other than blue sky if owners are focused on executing an appropriate strategy.”
Mr Hale said: “The latest figures show Melbourne’s CBD vacancy rate has reached an inflection point, supported by positive net absorption and a slight decrease in incentives.
“We are excited about the year ahead, with the market showing clear signs of improvement.
“I’m thrilled to be heading up Victoria’s office leasing market with Chas at a time when sentiment is clearly turning positive.
“Our skilled and experienced team will offer excellent guidance and service to our valued clients.”
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