Office Leasing Surge at Melbourne’s M-City

31 March 2022

Schiavello Group has leased over 8,000qm of office space in under four months at its new $1 billion M-City complex in Melbourne’s south-east.

The M-City development features a hotel, cinema, restaurant and medical precinct, four residential towers, a major shopping centre and a recently completed, eight-level office tower – for which three high profile occupiers have been secured.

Leading pharmaceutical wholesaler and pharmacy brand owner Sigma Healthcare has leased 5,238sqm of space, while retail Zoo, the company behind major brands such as Boost Juice, Betty’s Burgers, Salsas Fresh Mex and Cibo Espresso, has leased a whole floor of 1,746sqm. In a third significant commitment, ReadyTech Holdings subsidiary Open Office has leased 1,150sqm of space.

The leases range between five and 12 years and account for 70% of the tower’s available office space.

Schiavello Property Director Vito Chiodo said the group’s decades of experience in designing and building office environments, including furniture, was allowing Schiavello to provide true turn-key design and fit-out solutions tailored to occupiers’ needs.

“Since completing the M City precinct two years ago, we have continued to welcome new members to our community. We now welcome our latest customers who join the likes of retail, residential and hotel patrons,” Mr Chiodo said.

“Our passion was to create an enriched and connected community within a truly mixed-use development, which we can proudly say we have now achieved.”

CBRE’s Gianni Macdonald and Anthony Park, together with JLL’s Mario Nobrega and Joshua Tebb, secured the office lease agreements on behalf of Schiavello.

“As organisations increasingly leverage their premises to entice staff back into the office, worker flexibility and location were key themes in our dialogue with these new M-City occupiers,” Mr Macdonald said.

Mr Nobrega added, “M-City provides incredible onsite amenities rarely available in Melbourne’s south- eastern office market, enabling occupiers to be housed in a mini-city with all the retail facilities they could ever want.”