• ESR Australia, on behalf of ARA Private Funds and QuadReal Property Group, have secured the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) Victoria as the anchor customer for Victoria Place, 200 Victoria Parade East Melbourne. 
• The Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) Victoria has entered into 10-year lease over18,648sqm across Levels 1 -7 of Victoria Place  
• This marks the largest lease signed on Melbourne’s city-fringe since 2019. 
• The A-Grade Victoria Place on Melbourne’s city fringe is fully-leased, just three months after practical completion.  

Melbourne, 25 July 2023: ESR Australia, ARA Private Funds, together with global real estate investor QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal), supported by developer Time & Place have secured the Department of Treasury and Finance as the anchor customer at their 10-storey A-grade office building, Victoria Place, with the 18,648sqm tenancy marking the largest Melbourne city-fringe deal achieved in a post-pandemic market. 

The Department of Treasury and Finance will re-locate staff from premises at 35 and 80 Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD to occupy Levels 1-7, having signed a 10-year lease for its new location at 200 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.  

The leasing campaign was managed by Colliers’ Andrew Beasley and Travis Myerscough and marks full commitment at Victoria Place. This was achieved within three months of the building reaching practical completion, approximately half the average time to reach this milestone in recent market conditions.  

The Department of Treasury and Finance joins Cancer Council Victoria, which has signed a 10-year lease for 4,420sqm across Levels 8 and 9, and the Centre for Eye Research Australia, which has also leased 2,137sqm on Level 10 for 10 years.  

At the forefront of sustainable design, Victoria Place has achieved a 6 Star Green Star Office Design rating and is targeting 6 Star NABERS and a Gold WELL certification. It also incorporates innovative and sustainable building technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) software for performance monitoring and a rooftop solar farm engineered to follow the sun.  

Following ESR’s acquisition of ARA Asset Management in January 2022, ESR Australia joined ARA Private Funds and QuadReal to work with a private developer, Time & Place, to see through the delivery of the asset, which it will actively co-manage with ARA Private Funds. 

ESR Australia CEO, Phil Pearce, commended Time & Place on the project’s development, which sees the premium city-fringe asset offer tailored solutions to government and corporate customers with large space requirements.  

“Victoria Place represents the calibre of project ESR seeks to deliver, particularly with consideration to sustainable, human-centric design elements.  

“Challenging market conditions, like Melbourne has experienced in recent years, often prompt a flight to quality, which we have seen in Victoria Place swiftly achieving full commitment. 

“Over the next few months, ESR Australia will be looking to engage hospitality operators to activate the ground floor lobby as part of our active asset management, in preparation for customers moving in from Q3 this year,” Mr Pearce said. 

ARA Private Funds Head of Australia, Matthew Egan said, “We are thrilled to deliver such a positive despite a challenging environment. Victoria Place’s prestigious location, exceptional sustainability credentials and superior design allowed us to deliver on our intended strategy despite a global pandemic, showing the resilience of high-quality real estate and a well-considered strategy.”  

Peter Kim, Managing Director, Asia, QuadReal, added: “This letting is a fantastic endorsement of the best in class environmental credentials of the building and a further illustration as to why it was a compelling investment for QuadReal. We are committed to investing in innovation and building vibrant and sustainable communities globally.” 

Colliers National Director of Office Leasing, Travis Myerscough said Victoria Place had been one of the most successful leasing campaigns in recent years, with Colliers securing 100% commitment just after completion, a testament to the high-quality building the fringe has longed for.  

“Melbourne’s fringe is one of the strongest performing office markets we’ve recently seen in Australia, with demonstrated appeal to blue chip organisations. The demand has been driven from both the CBD, with the likes of The Department of Education and Australia Post moving out and outer east occupiers, such as Adidas and PZ Cussons moving in,” Mr Myerscough said. 

Time & Place Development Director, Nick Paciocco, added the achievement of such a high calibre of customer mix speaks to the success of its future-focused design ethos for Victoria Place. 

“After acquiring the site in 2016 and having plans approved in late 2018, it’s fantastic to reach this milestone of 100% commitment. 

“We designed Victoria Place as a workplace of the future, before COVID-19 had hit, and we’re pleased to say it has held up against the changing nature of workplace that’s followed,” Mr Paciocco said. 

With fit-out by leading architecture firm Gray Puksand underway, customers will move in at Victoria Place from Q3 2023. The Department of Treasury and Finance plans to move in the first half of 2024. 

About ESR 

ESR is APAC’s largest real asset manager powered by the New Economy and the third largest listed real estate investment manager globally. With US$156 billion in total assets under management (AUM), our fully integrated development and investment management platform extends across key APAC markets, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, India, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, representing over 95% of GDP in APAC, and also includes an expanding presence in Europe and the U.S. We provide a diverse range of real asset investment solutions and New Economy real estate development opportunities across our private funds business, which allow capital partners and customers to capitalise on the most significant secular trends in APAC. ESR is the largest sponsor and manager of REITs in APAC with a total AUM of US$46 billion. Our purpose – Space and Investment Solutions for a Sustainable Future – drives us to manage sustainably and impactfully and we consider the environment and the communities in which we operate as key stakeholders of our business. Listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, ESR is a constituent of the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (Large Cap), Hang Seng Composite Index and MSCI Hong Kong Index. 

More information is available at www.esr.com.  

About QuadReal Property Group  

QuadReal Property Group is a global real estate investment, operating and development company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its assets under management are $73.8 billion. From its foundation in Canada as a full-service real estate operating company, QuadReal has expanded its capabilities to invest in equity and debt in both the public and private markets. QuadReal invests directly, via programmatic partnerships and through operating companies in which it holds an ownership interest.  

QuadReal seeks to deliver strong investment returns while creating sustainable environments that bring value to the people and communities it serves. Now and for generations to come.   

QuadReal: Excellence lives here.  

quadreal.com 

For ESR Australia media enquiries, please contact: 

For QuadReal media enquiries, please contact: 

Melissa Cassar 
EVP, Communication 
QuadReal Property Group 
T +1 647 335 4202 
E [email protected]