By Tina Perinotto
17 February 2011 – According to chief executive of Grosvenor Australia Rob Kerr the five star Green Star and five star NABERS Energy ambitions for Eclipse, the company’s joint venture office tower with Leighton Properties at Parramatta, west of Sydney, were a drawcards in attracting lead tenants to the project.
QBE Insurance Group and Deloitte Australia have pre-committed to about 70 of the building at between $400 to $450 a square metre, newspaper reports said last week.
Mr Kerr told The Fifth Estate that his company had no doubt that the trend towards greener buildings was set.
Grosvenor, with a portfolio of about $700 million, had been pushing towards more sustainable outcomes for the past few years, he said.
The move was “absolute necessity, whether you’re an investor, manager or developer – there is no doubt that it’s a priority, and a major issue for tenants. ”
Grosvenor was currently upgrading one of its buildings in Brisbane with hopes to raise its performance from a current two star NABERS Energy rating to five stars, Mr Kerr said.
A big driver of demand for tenants was the growing environmental awareness of corporate staff.
“Over time if you don’t move to that position then it’s going to be much more difficult to retain tenants whether it’s greenfield or existing buildings. You’ve got to bring about change if you haven’t already.”
Leasing agents for Eclipse were CB Richard Ellis’ James Patterson, Peter Flint and Stephen Panagiotopoulos.
Mr Panagiotopoulos said that demand for larger commitments of office space increasingly came with green requirements.
“We’re seeing that more and more tenants, especially those relocating from the city, are asking about NABERS and Green Star rating.
“If a requirement is from the city – even if it’s for moving within Parramatta, and the decision makers are in the city – they’re wanting 4 and 4.5 star NABERS.”
Eclipse, at 60 Station Street, will have a net lettable area of 25,660 sq m over 19- storeys.
Designer of the building is Fitzpatrick and Partners, which won a Parramatta’s first design competition under the Parramatta City Council’s new City Centre Plan. (The firm also designed the Macquarie Bank building in Shelley St Sydney.)
The Fifth Estate – sustainable property news