Dexus' North Sydney office tower tops out as suburb's tallest, but will soon be overtaken
One of North Sydney’s newest office towers, 100 Mount Street, has topped out, as the transformation of the business precinct continues to take shape.
Owned by Dexus and Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, the property is 63 per cent pre-leased ahead of its expected completion early next year, and the National Broadband Network will take up nearly half of the 42,100-square-metre building.
Construction company Laing O’Rourke, which is building the tower, is another anchor tenant and sold the sites at 90-100 Mount Street to Dexus for $41 million in late 2015, Domain Group records show.
At the topping-out ceremony were, from left, North Sydney federal MP Trent Zimmerman; North Sydney mayor Gilly Gibson; Dexus chief investment officer Ross Du Vernet; North Shore state MP Felicity Wilson; and Laing O’Rourke Australian managing director Cathal O’Rourke. Photo: Supplied
It is currently the tallest commercial tower in North Sydney at 35 storeys, though this will soon change as the suburb’s skyline changes rapidly.
Nearby, Winton Property Group is developing the 39-storey 1 Denison Street, which is due to be completed in early 2020.
It will be the new headquarters of Nine Entertainment, which sold its Willoughby studios for $147.5 million in 2016.
And a 42-storey building has been proposed above the future Sydney Metro Victoria Cross Station, scheduled to be operating by 2024.
An artist’s impression of the tower at 100 Mount Street, at 35 storeys. Image: Supplied
“We are excited to be leading North Sydney’s revitalisation through the creation of our premium office development which will bring around 4000 workers to the North Sydney CBD,” Dexus chief investment officer Ross Du Vernet said.
Laing O’Rourke’s Australian managing director Cathal O’Rourke said the building, which took more than two years to build, incorporates innovations in high-rise design and construction.
“100 Mount Street will feature high levels of customer amenity including premium end-of-trip facilities, concierge and smart building connectivity designed to provide customers with flexibility,” he said.
“The building adopts a number of sustainability initiatives, including a double-skin façade that will enhance customer comfort and significantly reduce energy consumption.”
The vacancy for A-grade buildings in North Sydney dipped significantly from 6.9 per cent to 2.2 per cent in the six months to July 2018, according to Colliers International figures, while the overall vacancy rate tightened from 7.9 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
It is the lowest level of availability North Sydney has experienced since 2002 and is “well below” the 10-year average of 8.8 per cent, the agency’s Metro Office Second Half 2018 report wrote.
But vacancy is expected to edge back up to 7.1 per cent in September 2019, as more than 130,000 square metres are due to be completed in North Sydney from 2019 onwards.
Net face rents are at $785 a square metre with commercial properties returning a 5.13 per cent yield.
