An artist’s impression of Australia Post’s new corporate headquarters in Richmond.

Funds follow Australia Post's move to hipster heartland

Nick Lenaghan|Sep 07, 2021

Australia Post’s decision to move its national headquarters to hipster Richmond in Melbourne’s inner east has attracted backing from the big end of town, with Victorian Funds Management Corporation investing into the Charter Hall development.

The national carrier first flagged its plan in May to leave its long-standing home, the landmark Southern Cross tower in central Melbourne, for the $410 million Charter Hall-led project on Swan Street, joining a growing group of major companies pursuing office life outside the CBD.

The move into the Burnley precinct allows Australia Post to spread itself out over a generous 3000-square-metre, campus-style floor plate in the 32,000sq m purpose-built office tower.

The new headquarters will front trendy Swan Street, which runs through the heart of Richmond and into the city’s leafy east. Another drawcard is the site’s excellent transport connections, with a direct link at the rear to the local train station while the city’s major tollroad is also nearby.

The move to Swan Street takes Australia Post into the heart of a thriving tech and creative district which has emerged in the past few years in the city’s the inner east, stretching across the suburbs of Burnley, Richmond and Cremorne.

Institutional money has followed, with Victorian Funds Management Corporation joining a partnership with the unlisted Charter Hall Prime Office Fund to hold the new Richmond asset.

Underpinning that investment is the 10-year pre-lease struck by Charter Hall for the project it put together with local developer PDG Corporation. Construction firm Built has been appointed as the builder.

“Charter Hall has a long track record in delivering place-making precincts that go beyond the workplace and offer our customers amenity-rich experiences,” said Charter Hall’s chief investment officer, Sean McMahon.

“480 Swan Street is set to be a transformational project for the Burnley precinct, with a significant upgrade to the office offering in the area as well as improvements to the surrounding infrastructure, which will benefit the local community.”

Australia Post will join a bevy of blue-chip names who have already opted to set up shop outside the CBD. In the vicinity are Domain, Seek, Uber, Reece, Tesla, MYOB and Walt Disney. Bunnings became the latest big corporate player to choose the neighbourhood, striking a deal last year with ASX-listed Growthpoint to take up lodgings in an office tower at 570 Swan Street, a short walk from Australia Post’s new home.

The decision to move to Richmond was endorsed by the Lucio Di Bartolomeo-led board in late May, following a lengthy process reviewing options for the corporate HQ after the expiry of its lease at the CBD tower co-owned by global property giants Blackstone and Brookfield.

The Swan Street address was chosen ahead of other options including a CBD site to be developed by Mirvac; a move elsewhere in Richmond in a separate PDG proposal backed by Dexus; or another inner-city site in North Melbourne, also under Charter Hall’s control.

Winning Australia Post as the anchor tenant in Richmond builds on Charter Hall’s relationship with the national mail carrier, which extends across office, retail and logistics properties in more than 50 locations.