Addenbrooke joins Phoenix for office tower on Michael Gu-linked site in Sydney CBD
The Australian | By Ben Wilmot
Addenbrooke and Phoenix will start building a new office tower on the site next year, with the venture hoping to capitalise on big companies looking for space as they seek to lure workers back to the city.
Sydney-based property developer Addenbrooke has teamed with Phoenix Property Investors to drive a major office building development in the heart of the city on a property that was once part of Michael Gu’s collapsed iProsperity Group.
The entrepreneur fled Australia last year after his hospitality and development operation went into administration owing about $325m.
Now the local pair have swooped on 333 Kent St and will start building a new office tower on the site next year, with the venture hoping to capitalise on big companies looking for space as they seek to lure workers back to the city.
The property’s majority owner Glory Star Properties has struck up a partnership with Addenbrooke, which is working with Phoenix, with those groups buying a stake in the development.
The deal was brokered by Scott Timbrell, Jessen O’Sullivan and Andrew Harford of Knight Frank for Glory Star.
The project, designed by renowned architectural firm WMK, will see an A-grade 14-storey building, comprising 14,242sq m of space, developed. The existing 1980s B-grade office building will be transformed into the new tower.
Glory Star had planned to develop the property in a fund managed by Gu’s iProsperity after it purchased the property in 2016 and it had gained concept approval for a mixed-use hotel development on the site. But iProsperity was removed as the fund manager after it went into administration in July 2020, with Glory Star, the majority owner of the Kent St site, then moving ahead with delivering the planned 14-storey commercial tower.
An artist’s impression of 333 Kent St from the south
The project will now be delivered by the new partnership, with building set to begin in the second quarter of 2022, and a completion date of late 2023 or early 2024. A formal builder tender process will be conducted early next year and a leasing campaign will commence shortly.
To address post-Covid demand for office space, the design for the Kent St block has emphasised accommodating smart systems and touchless technology, unique external breakout spaces and safe end-of-trip facilities.
Moni Xinye An, on behalf of Glory Star, which is majority owned by Australian Chinese developer Super Ocean Group founded by Li Pei Ye, said Addenbrooke “will bring good synergy to the existing team with their development track record”.
Dinnigan’s focus has moved from fashion design to Bespoke Homes, a luxury rental platform she is developing with her husband, hotel and tourism entrepreneur Bradley Cocks.
They’ve just returned from Italy where they’re restoring a 400-year-old farmhouse in Puglia. They also have residential properties in Darling Point, the beachside Rosedale on the South Coast, and a Paddington warehouse.
“We have always been strong believers in this precinct and believe the timing of this development is perfect given our position in the current market cycle and the return to the CBD for office users,” Addenbrooke’s Toby O’Neil said. PPI Australia head Trent Winduss said the well-located boutique office project “will remain an attractive proposition for both tenants and property investors and we look forward to delivering a world-class project which will be a prominent addition to the Sydney CBD’s western corridor precinct”.
Mr O’Sullivan said the pending development was a real vote of confidence in Sydney CBD, “which has seen a resurgence in activity since Covid-19 restrictions have recently eased in NSW, with many people coming back into offices”.
“Rather than seeing a move away from the CBD from tenants, we are actually seeing the opposite at the moment, but there is flight to quality, with office workers wanting Covid-safe A-grade buildings,” he said.
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