Bookmark & Share
The acquisition of the two Grade A Sydney office buildings will raise CICT’s overall portfolio property value to $22.4 billion. Source: CapitaLand
CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) marked its first inroad into Australia, with the acquisition of two Grade A office buildings in Sydney for A$330.7 million (S$318.07 million).
CICT’s total acquisition outlay is around A$381 million (S$366.4 million), subject to completion adjustments.
Set to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, the acquisition “is expected to be partially funded with Australian-dollar-denominated bank loans to achieve natural hedging”, revealed the trust’s manager in an SGX filing.
Located within Sydney’s Central Business District (CBD), the two buildings enjoy easy access to public transport and amenities.
The 24-storey 66 Goulburn Street is a Grade A office building that comes with ancillary retail space and a basement car park. Its energy-saving features include an intelligent lighting control system and double-glazed windows. It offers an efficient and column-free floor plate that ranges between 937 sq m and 975 sq m.
The 23-storey 100 Arthur Street also comes with ancillary retail space. From 2019 to 2021, the Grade A office building underwent a A$17 million (S$16.35 million) refurbishment to enhance its entrance foyer, lobby and vacant floors as well as for equipment upgrades.
“The two assets are complementary to CICT’s portfolio, and will enhance our portfolio resilience with further geographical and income diversification. Riding on the post-lockdown recovery of Australia’s economy, we expect to ramp up occupancy and drive rental growth of the two assets through proactive lease management,” said Tony Tan, CEO of the trust’s manager.
He noted that the acquisition will raise CICT’s overall portfolio property value to S$22.4 billion, while its overseas portfolio exposure will increase from 4% to around 7% by portfolio property value.
“This is in line with our strategy to remain predominantly focused in Singapore, with up to 20% of portfolio property value in overseas developed markets. We will continue to leverage our sponsor’s overseas investment and asset management platform and network to build scale in the developed markets where CICT has established footprint. At the same time, we will continue to pursue organic growth and inorganic opportunities from our sponsor and third parties in Singapore,” he said.
Looking for a property in Singapore? Visit PropertyGuru’s Listings, Project Reviews and Guides.
Cheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email: cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg.
Related Articles:
Singapore commercial real estate activity surged 223% in Q3