EG sells Melbourne CBD office for $93.8 million

After receiving high levels of unsolicited interest from domestic and foreign buyers, real estate fund manager EG has sold its 12-storey office building in Melbourne for $93.8 million.

The property, located at 277 William Street, was snapped up by an undisclosed Hong Kong investor in a deal jointly managed by CBRE and JLL.

During the hold period, EG re-let over 70 per cent of the property and completed significant upgrades including the addition of retail amenity and infrastructure improvements.

Several unsolicited approaches to acquire the property sparked EG's desire to initially market the property, as it looked to take advantage of significant movements within the Melbourne office market.

EG's divisional director Daniel Farley says the company is pleased to successfully sell the William Street asset which it bought almost four years ago for only $45.9 million.

"The property has seen a complete turnaround during our hold period and is now a quality B grade asset boasting a strong leasing success rate and excellent environmental credentials," says Farley.

"We're proud of what we've been able to achieve with this asset.

"We're still big believers in the Melbourne office market which boasts strong white-collar employment growth and superior supply demand forecasts over the foreseeable future."

CBRE agents Kiran Pillai, Josh Rutman, Lewis Tong and Neva Courts marketed the sale alongside Leigh Melbourne, Langton McHarg and Paul Kempton of JLL.

Pillai says the Melbourne market continues to attract strong interest from Asian investors.

"The positive office market fundamentals in Melbourne continue to underpin strong interest from local and offshore investors, particularly from markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong," says Pillai.

"A distinct shortage of deal flow over the course of 2018 has meant that when quality assets are brought to market, competition is strong and pricing is well ahead of the curve."

Business News Australia