Former Multiplex boss Andrew Roberts’ investment vehicle has scooped up an under-construction office in Melbourne’s hip Collingwood in a $75 million deal with financier-turned-developer Aus Finance Group.

Aus Finance Group started construction late last year on the 11-storey office at 71 Gipps Street after signing a pre-commitment anchor lease with Regis’ co-working brand Spaces to take 3495 square metres across the building’s lower floors.

Spaces took 40 per cent of the 8600 sqm available in the building, which is in the heart of a booming Collingwood development zone.

Multiple new developments reflect the former working class suburb’s rise as a bona fide office location and hip residential address.

The Melbourne-based finance group, led by Frank Durso, has teamed up with Alpha14 Property to deliver the project, known as GCQ, in a fund-through deal with RF CorVal.

The office will sit in CorVal’s institutional VAF 2 fund for the medium to long term.

Neither Aus Finance nor CorVal would discuss the final value of the deal, but sales of other new office projects in Collingwood suggest an estimated end value around $75 million.

Nearby at 51 Langridge Street, Pace Development Group late last year sold an under-construction office for $31 million. Pace’s 10-level, 3000 sq m office with a rooftop terrace was squeezed onto a 510 sqm block.

A short distance away, Cbus is building a 154 apartment tower and Grocon has constructed the 13-storey Northumberland office in a $120 million fund-through deal with the Liberman family-backed Impact Investment Group.

RF CorVal’s head of transactions, Oliver Picone, said Collingwood’s rents were competitive and the suburb was viewed as an attractive amenity-rich area by prospective tenants.

Colliers International’s Michael Darvell and Matt Cosgrave have been appointed to lease the remainder of the building.

“The remaining tower floors are circa 500 sq m and we anticipate good demand from small to medium-sized companies to lease this space,” Mr Darvell said.

Work on the office is expected to finish in 2021.

Source: Simon Johanson, The Sydney Morning Herald March 4 2020 https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/corval-buys-collingwood-office-in-75m-deal-20200303-p546f2.html