Charter Hall Group secures 12-year lease to AFCA at Wesley Place, Melbourne CBD

AFCA came into force as of 1 November 2018 following a merge of the former Financial Ombudsman Services, Superannuation Complaints Tribunal and Credit and Investments Ombudsman.

”AFCA is a new organisation providing consumers and small business owners with fair, free and independent solutions to their financial disputes. Our new premises at Wesley Place will enable our Melbourne staff to deliver a high quality and flexible service,” said CEO and Chief Ombudsman of AFCA, David Locke. “We are very excited about this move and value our relationship with Charter Hall. We believe the Wesley Place development will be a great one for our customers, members and our people.”

The new 12-year lease commencing in July 2020, in line with practical completion, covers approximately 7,600sqm across Skyrise Levels 24-27, taking the new office tower’s committed Net Lettable Area (NLA) to approximately 78%.

Wesley Place is located at the eastern end of Melbourne’s CBD, and according to JLL is one of the most tightly held office precincts with a vacancy rate of 1.6% and limited new development supply in the medium term. The area is fast becoming the preferred location for major financial services organisations with ease of access to major transport and Melbourne’s entertainment and cultural precinct.

AFCA will join Vanguard, Telstra Super, Australia’s largest corporate superannuation fund, Cbus Super, one of Australia’s largest industry super funds along with Uniting Church in Australia at Wesley Place.

CPOF Fund Manager, Matthew Brown said:

“Welcoming AFCA to the Wesley Place development is a great milestone and demonstrates the strong leasing momentum we have been able to create with approximately 78% of the asset secured. Upon completion, Wesley Place will further enhance CPOF’s portfolio quality and total return metrics and deliver our Fund Investors a coveted new Premium Grade office building in the tightly held Melbourne CBD core office precinct.

“This new lease demonstrates our approach to securing significant tenant pre-commitments to de-risk the approximately $1.3 billion of committed projects that we have underway nationally within our office funds management platform. The depth of our internal development capabilities, with experienced teams based in each major capital city means that we are able to collaborate with our tenant customers to deliver great workspace experiences as well as create institutional quality investment opportunities in the office sector,” he added.

Upon completion, Charter Hall’s funds total investment in the Wesley Place precinct, including the properties at 130, 140 and 150 Lonsdale Street are expected to rise to over $1.2 billion.