AMP's stunning Quay Quarter Tower open and almost full
AMP staff have moved into the company’s new headquarters at Quay Quarter Tower, a 50-storey office building and the key element of AMP’s $3 billion Quay Quarter precinct opposite Circular Quay in the northern Sydney CBD.
Builder Multiplex handed over the keys last week following completion of the striking structure, clearing the way for the upcoming major refurbishment of the adjacent 26-storey tower at 33 Alfred Street, which had been AMP’s head office since 1962.
Kylie O’Connor, AMP Capital head of real estate, said the Quay Quarter Lanes, a mixed-use residential, commercial and retail development, was also complete with some tenants already moving in.
She said Quay Quarter Tower is 89 per cent pre-leased, proving there is strong appetite for prime-grade CBD office buildings.
“This has been in the making for over 10 years [and] is a pretty big deal,” Ms O’Connor said.
“The planning around Quay Quarter Tower, The Lanes and 33 Alfred Street was quite complex, involving transferring floor space from one site to another and a lot of work with City of Sydney.”
Multiplex managing director David Ghannoum said 35,000 people had worked on the building over four years it took to build, transforming an ageing 45,000sq m office building at 50 Bridge Street into an 89,000sq m sustainable tower designed by 3XN.
“It is undeniably the most complex build ever undertaken in Australia and embodies true innovation and a range of engineering feats, while also setting new standards in both Australian and global construction methodologies,” Mr Ghannoum said.
Ms O’Connor said tenant interest accelerated as Quay Quarter Tower neared completion.
“I think we’re going to see a big, positive move back towards office space, and from a demand perspective we’ve been really, really happy with the level of enquiry for the remaining floors in Quay Quarter,” Ms O’Connor said.
But she said there will be a decline in demand for older buildings.
“Lower grade buildings are going to struggle to get the demand back from tenants. I think tenants are going to take less space in premium higher-grade office buildings rather than more take space in the B and C-Grade office buildings,” Ms O’Connor said.
“We’ll see in future that occupancy levels of those types of buildings are down and therefore that will transfer into rental levels and I think owners of those buildings are going to need to consider what they can do in terms of upgrades or alternate uses.”
Built has been awarded the contract to refurbish 33 Alfred Street, a key element of which is creating floor-to-ceiling windows while maintaining the current heritage facade.
“Construction is likely to take a couple of years, and we’re already looking at what kind of tenant will be attracted to that asset,” said Ms O’Connor.
“Early indications are that we’ve got quite a lot of demand, which is not surprising given its locations and views.”
