PERTH-BASED property developer and syndicator Primewest has bought 255 and 267 St Georges Terrace from national property group Stockland for $27.6 million.
Primewest director John Bond (pictured) said the new purchases would complement the group’s plan to build a 3,500 square metre eco-friendly office building at 253 St Georges Terrace.
The target date for completion of the new building is May 2014.
Primewest purchased the two neighbouring properties – 251 and 253 St Georges Terrace – in November 2011, for about $60 million.
The nine-storey office building at 251 St Georges Terrace is diagonally opposite the QV.1 tower, with tenants including engineering and construction contractors RCR Tomlinson and AusGroup.
Primewest is planning a lobby renovation and the installation of three new lifts this year.
It has more extensive plans for 253 St Georges Terrace, currently the Eric Silbert Gardens, where it plans to build a 4-level office building designed by Cox Architects.
“We’re building a new building at 253 St Georges Terrace which has been submitted for DA approval, it will be called the Veil253,” Mr Bond said.
The Veil253 office development will have three levels with 1,000 square metre floor palettes, a ground floor with 550sqm and a sophisticated bike facility.
“We bought 255 as it has a lot of parking, 48 car bays; we can use some of them for parking with our new 253 St Georges Terrace building,” Mr Bond said.
“It also has an excess plot ratio of 3,500 metres and we are currently looking at ways to utilise that.”
He said Primewest had no plans to develop 267 St Georges Terrace, a 4-level office building with tenants including ProMet Engineers, ASG Group and AWT International.
Primewest expects its new office building will take advantage of the historically low vacancy rates in the city.
The Property Council of Australia’s latest Perth office report ranked Perth as having the lowest vacancy rate in the country at 4.2 per cent in July.
Property Council WA executive director Joe Lenzo said CBD office space absorption was at a record high, with the equivalent of two Central Park-sized buildings having been filled this year.
The Property Council revealed net absorption of Perth CBD office space was eight times higher than the historical average.
Three quarters of net CBD absorption (in Australia) occurred in just Perth and Brisbane, the council said.