PGIM Real Estate Buys Brisbane Office Bldg For US$54m
AUSTRALIA – PGIM Real Estate has purchased a 22-storey office building known as 444 Queen Street in Brisbane, Australia for US$54.4 million on Wednesday, reported The Edge on Wednesday afternoon (20 October, SGT).
The commercial property was acquired from The Public Trustee of Queensland and Abacus Property Group. Notably, the buyer is part of Prudential Financial’s global asset management business.
Situated in the coveted Golden Triangle area in Brisbane’s central business district (CBD), the commercial property stands on a 1,708 sq m land plot. It also has an overall floor area of 13,967 sq m, meaning the selling price works out to US$3,894.9 per sq m.
The office building has a 31m frontage along Queen Street, the main street in Brisbane. The property is also close to Eagle Street Pier, Howard Smith Wharves, and Queen Street Mall, all of which feature various amenities.
Moreover, PGIM Real Estate plans to transform 444 Queen Street into a Grade A office building via refurbishment in a bid to modernise the asset, as well as optimise its prime waterfront location and river views.
“The ability to acquire a Queen Street building at this rate (US$3,895 per sq m) provides an opportunity for us to execute our strategy of repositioning well-located but tired assets to meet the needs of future tenants,” said the firm’s Managing Director & Head of Australia, Steve Bulloch.
Interestingly, the latest acquisition represents PGIM Real Estate’s 2nd deal in Queen Street. In August 2021, the company teamed up with Fortius Funds Management to buy 307 Queen Street for US$214 million. PGIM Real Estate also jointly owns 130 Queen Street with Marquette Properties.
The group is “confident in Brisbane’s longer-term fundamentals,” noted Bulloch. This is “driven by strong interstate migration, continued infrastructure spending and increasing offshore investor interest”, especially with Brisbane’s recent announcement on hosting the 2032 Olympics, he added.
