Yesterday
Construction, labour woes force developer to offload $200m of sites
APH Holding, which has a multibillion-dollar pipeline of Melbourne projects, has put more than $200m worth of sites on the market, including many with permits
- Larry Schlesinger
Melbourne ‘a proper basket case’ as office vacancy hits 20pc
As tenants shift into new towers, older and emptier office blocks will be deemed functionally obsolete.
- Nick Lenaghan
- Exclusive
- Retail property
Leica backs Melbourne CBD revival with world’s biggest store
The famed German camera maker has transformed an entire building in the Melbourne CBD into a retail hub that includes an art gallery.
- Larry Schlesinger
This Month
The Hong Kong tower that symbolises China’s credit bubble bust
The woes at the building symbolise a credit bust that hit the city after the Chinese government’s crackdown on excessive leverage ended a property frenzy.
- Lorretta Chen and Pearl Liu
Sale price for Captain Cook pub doubles to $35m since 2020
The price paid for the Botany hotel by publican Kent Walker is in sharp contrast to the $6.6m paid recently for the Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington.
- Larry Schlesinger
- Analysis
- Commercial real estate
Tourism gimmicks won’t save the office wastelands of Canary Wharf
The landlords who own the old business districts need to be far bolder, and come up with some genuinely radical solutions as major firms head for the exits.
- Matthew Lynn
Architects, fire engineers, building surveyors fingered over cladding
Victoria’s combustible cladding crisis shows the permit system failed to ensure compliance with building rules, a new government agency report shows.
- Michael Bleby
Fear of CFMEU reprisals keeps building bosses silent
Major builders and developers say union power is driving up the cost of housing and infrastructure projects, and they don’t want more trouble on their sites.
- Michael Bleby, Nick Lenaghan and Larry Schlesinger
Haben raising $263m to bankroll QIC’s Westpoint shopping centre buy
Potential investors have been told to expect 6.6 per cent in average annual distributions which would be paid quarterly, and at least 17 per cent pre-tax IRR.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Historic pub to close after Rich Lister sells building, keeps pokies
Pub and pokies baron Bruce Mathieson exchanged contracts to buy the Captain Cook Hotel for $13.5m in late 2022. His BLM Group sold it this month for $6.6m.
- Larry Schlesinger
Westfield’s Paris shopping centres bid for an Olympic leg-up
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the owner of Westfield malls in Europe, is looking for a spurt of extra visitors and a profit boost for its convention centres.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Working from beach is the new WFH (just don’t tell your boss)
Work from anywhere policies – allowing staff to spend some time abroad on the clock – makes people more likely to stay at a company for longer, a survey found.
- Lauren Shirreff
- Exclusive
- Property development
Japanese investors eye Australian residential real estate
Competition for Australian sites is heating up for Japanese companies such as Asahi Kasei Homes, Sumitomo Forestry Group and Daiwa House.
- Michael Bleby
Great Barrier Reef island visited by Captain Cook set to fetch $20m
Quail Island near the Whitsundays was last purchased for $2 million in 2020. Meanwhile, a cattle station north of Alice Springs is on the market for about $40 million.
- Larry Schlesinger
Kimberley beachfront eco resort with own airstrip hits the market
Eco Beach Resort sits just metres from the beach an hour south of Broome. It comes to market amid a boom in demand for luxury, eco-friendly resorts.
- Larry Schlesinger
Singaporean billionaire brings Hilton to Hobart
Koh Wee Meng’s Fragrance Group has ditched Accor’s Novotel brand and has instead appointed Hilton to run its new Hobart Hotel as a DoubleTree.
- Larry Schlesinger
Labor rules giving building unions more powers on projects
The construction industry in Queensland is worried about state policies that benefit the CFMEU, but which will saddle consumers with great costs.
- Michael Bleby, James Hall and David Marin-Guzman
- Exclusive
- Office
The 19 corporate giants behind Sydney’s tumbling office values
Australia’s biggest companies have cut close to 200,000 square metres from their Sydney CBD office footprints. And so far, only Westpac is considering expanding again.
- Campbell Kwan
Melbourne a launching pad for Hong Kong hotel brand
Lanson Place will open its first Australian property in September after spending $80m repurposing the former Salvation Army Printing Works in East Melbourne
- Larry Schlesinger
Just 7pc of British bosses say they go into the office full-time
The findings could open employers up to accusations of hypocrisy from angry staff who have been forced back to their desks.
- Lucy Burton
