Sydney's tower of power partners with Singaporean flexi work outfit
Quay Quarter in Sydney will feature on the show.

Sydney's tower of power partners with Singaporean flexi work outfit

One of Singapore’s leading co-working operators is launching in Australia through a partnership at Sydney’s newest prime office building, the 49-storey Quay Quarter Tower, with plans to use it as a springboard to become a local top-five player.

The Work Project (TWP), operator of 10 co-working sites in Singapore and another in Hong Kong, will manage 4300 square metres over levels two and three of Quay Quarter Tower, which is due to reach practical completion in two weeks.

It is the latest move in an increasingly dynamic sector with leading operators Workspace 365, Hub Australia and The Commons preparing to open 10 new flexible work spaces in the first half of this year as demand for co-working space increases.

Asset manager AMP Capital said TWP was chosen after an international search for a co-working partner and the companies were collaborating closely on design and fitout for the space, which is due to open in August.

TWP chief executive Junny Lee said the rest of the year would be spent bedding down the operation, which includes about 1000sq m of meeting and event space.

“Australia’s been identified as the key overseas expansion market for TWP,” Mr Lee said.

“Beyond our home market in Singapore, Australia is very much a key focus for the next couple of years.

Co-working operator

“We’re very ambitious in Sydney – and Melbourne as well.”

Mr Lee said TWP, which he founded in 2017 and is now majority owned by CapitaLand, aims to become Singapore’s third-largest co-working operator by the end of the year, when it will have about 46,000sq m under management.

“And so we’re hoping to achieve that scale in Australia in the next couple of years, where ultimately we’d like to become one of the top five operators,” he said.

He said TWP targets CBD prime grade buildings like Quay Quarter Tower. “We position ourselves as a premium product servicing mainly corporate clients,” Mr Lee said

It operates a diversified business strategy – a mix of partnerships, management agreements and leases. Seven of its Singapore sites are office buildings owned by CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups.

Marketing for the Quay Quarter space was advanced, Mr Lee said, however no major clients had been signed yet. “We have a pipeline of customers we are talking to.”

Leasing pre-commitments for the building have reached 89 per cent after law firm Johnson Winter & Slattery committed to a 10-year lease for 3500sq m.

They join other tenants including AMP, Deloitte, Corrs Chambers Westgarth and EQT.

Quay Quarter Tower, designed by Danish architects 3XN, is jointly owned by the AMP Capital Wholesale Office Fund and Dexus Wholesale Property Fund.

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