Charter Hall acquires prime Melbourne CBD corner for $32 Million

Charter Hall Group announced today it has secured a further off-market acquisition for the Core Plus Office Fund (CPOF) in Melbourne CBD for $32 million. The property located at 150 Queen Street on the corner of Bourke Street is the 12th asset in CPOF and expands the portfolio to over $1 billion. The building comprises 938m2 of prime retail space, 7,048m2 of office space over 11 upper levels and 2 levels of basement parking accommodating 30 cars.

Melbourne's CBD office investment market is gaining considerable momentum and the acquisition is seen as an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the forecast upswing in the Melbourne office and retail rental market. The strategic location of the property, formerly known as the Prudential building, provides CPOF with multiple value add opportunities and is considered to have considerable positive rental reversion prospects.

Charter Hall's Joint Managing Director, David Harrison said: "150 Queen Street offers CPOF an ideal %u2018Core Plus' investment as rental reversions and multiple value add options provide the flexibility for Charter Hall's active investment approach to optimise returns for investors. Further, the large retail component means the purchase price reflects $4,000/m2 overall and $2,850/m2 of office lettable area which we consider provides scope for growth."

This latest CPOF acquisition represents the second purchase from Mr George Chow's Ruby Group, following the 2006 $69 million purchase of 333 George Street Sydney, now accommodating Charter Hall's head office.