Real Estate
17 February, 2025
Towering externo prime sale
THE tallest building in Cairns is being sold for the first time in 20 years.
Garda Property Group has listed the Cairns Corporate Tower in Lake St for sale.
The tower is the sole office building within the Garda portfolio which is now largely focused on ‘develop to own’ industrial properties.
CBRE’s Danny Betros and Mark Witheriff are managing the marketing campaign for the sale.
The tower was originally developed in 1989 and is regarded as the pre-eminent commercial office accommodation in the city for over 30 years.
Garda, in the past 10 years, has completed a full refurbishment of the 15-storey tower costing in excess of $20 million.
Garda Property Group executive chairman Matthew Madsen said after spending the best part of a decade repositioning this asset, “we are both proud and excited to offer Cairns Corporate Tower to the market”.
“The iconic building represents a compelling investment opportunity for buyers looking to acquire a dominant building in a low leasing incentive market,” he said.
“Garda Property Group aims to unlock value for our shareholders and release capital for redeployment into the strategic growth areas within our business.” Tenants in the building are all long standing and include major corporate tenants, as well as federal and state government departments.
They include the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Cairns Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Business Centre, ARUP, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Consulate-General of Japan, Federal Court, GHD, Grant Thornton, Holding Redlich, Morgans Financial, NDIS, Suncorp Bank and the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union.
The property covers 14,843sqm over 15 levels and comprises ground floor building entry foyer with retail accommodation, ground and upper ground office accommodation, secure podium parking for 264 vehicles on levels one, two and three and parts of level four, and 12 upper levels of commercial office accommodation. The property also has a 1518sqm parcel of land adjoining the property.
In 2015 the building was valued at $38.5m, with an average passing rent of $326 per sqm. The average passing income is now $530sqm, with recent leasing at $600sqm. The property was valued at $79.4m in December 2024.
A successful sale will reposition Garda as lowly-geared ‘pure play’ industrial REIT.
The expressions of interest campaign closes on March 6, 2025.
