17 January 2022

Charter Hall adds ActewAGL House to Canberra portfolio for $76 million

| Ian Bushnell
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ActewAGL House

ActewAGL House in Bunda Street, Civic. Photo: Colliers International.

Charter Hall has added another property to its burgeoning Canberra portfolio picking up prime city office building ActewAGL House for $76 million.

Colliers International Director of Capital Markets and Investment Services Matthew Winter said the property sold after an extensive Expression of Interest process, with settlement last month before the Christmas break.

Mr Winter said the deal came with additional obligations on the new owner such as future capital works.

ActewAGL House at 40 Bunda Street is a seven-storey A-Grade office building boasting net lettable area of 8080 square metres on a large 1431 square-metre corner site.

Completed in 2009, the building is fully occupied by the ACT energy company which recently extended its lease to 2029.

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Owner Event Hospitality and Entertainment said last October that the sale was “part of our strategy to divest non-core property assets to unlock value in the group’s property portfolio, to reinvest in future development opportunities”.

Charter Hall has been very active in the Canberra market this year, acquiring a clutch of properties.

Mr Winter said Charter Hall had acquired more than $1 billion in ACT assets including the Louisa Lawson Building in Tuggeranong, 24 Wormald Street, Symonston, the Doris Blackburn Building in Forrest, and 50 Marcus Clarke in the city, all with federal government tenants.

“Charter Hall, similar to numerous institutional buyers, are bullish on the ACT and the fundamentals of the market,” Mr Winter said.

He said 2021 was a record year for the ACT office market, chalking up more than $1.4 billion in sales.

“There were several major on-market campaigns as well as off-market transactions with owners capitalising on the strong metrics and significant buyer interest,” he said.

“We expect the conditions to continue, and are optimistic of another strong year with some major asset sales forecast.

“The market will closely monitor interest rates both domestically and in the US, however we don’t expect this to dampen confidence, particularly in the near term.”

The ActewAGL House purchase fits with Charter Hall’s strategy of focusing on high-quality office buildings leased to high-quality tenants on long-term leases.

It views Canberra as a really strong and resilient market.

Colliers International and JLL marketed the sale of ActewAGL House.

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