Charter Hall gets going on $600m Wesley Place
Charter Hall is proceeding with its $600 million Wesley Place project on Lonsdale Street in central Melbourne after winning sufficient pre-commitments to make the project stack up.
As flagged previously, the landmark project has already struck agreements with two super funds, Cbus and Telstra Super, to take up anchor tenancies in the 55,000-square-metre tower.
Led by David Harrison, the investment and development platform has now secured a third agreement with investment services firm Vanguard, which had previously short-listed both the Charter Hall project and Lendlease’s Melbourne Quarter development in Docklands for its new accommodation.
With the three pre-commitments now in hand, Charter Hall can account for as much as 30,000 sq m, or more than 50 per cent, of the proposed tower.
Lendlease’s construction arm, which is appointed to build the overall tower, is already at work on preparatory work at the site.
Also showing interest in the development is Japanese advertising and media relations firm Dentsu, which is in the market for at least 20,000 sq m, although its original requirement may have been scaled back.
Charter Hall declined to comment on its progress at Wesley Place. Leasing for the massive tower is being handled by Colliers International and JLL.
Charter Hall will also provide for a large occupancy from the Uniting Church for administrative space. That arrangement is part of the original deal to develop the church-owned land on Lonsdale Street through a 125-year leasehold deal.
The fund manager took over the 130 Lonsdale Street site late in 2015 from Leighton Properties, which already had a planning application in play.
Approval for the project was given in 2016.
The site is next to a group of properties held by the Uniting Church, including the Wesley Church, the manse, schoolhouse and caretaker’s cottage, all historic buildings in the neo-gothic style.
Further south along Lonsdale Street, past the church itself, Charter Hall also owns an existing office tower at 150 Lonsdale Street and an accompanying car park.
Earlier this year Charter Hall began pursuing a separate proposal for a $175 million office tower on a site known as 140 Lonsdale Street.
The 15,000 sq m tower proposal at 140 Lonsdale Street is the next step for Charter Hall as it looks to reap further return from its control over a one-hectare island site.
With lanes running along both sides of the precinct, which backs onto Little Lonsdale Street, the area is sometimes known as Charter Hall’s “holy hectare”.
