REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – COMMERCIAL

WeWork cuts space despite staying open

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 8-Nov-23

Co-working pioneer WeWork has advised that its 15 hubs across Australian will remain open, despite its US parent company’s move to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. WeWork indicated that it will further rationalise its commercial lease portfolio while it is in bankruptcy, although this process will exclude its locations outside the US and Canada. However, WeWork will scale back the size of two co-working hubs in Sydney and its only site in Perth. A spokesman says it will be "business as usual" for WeWork in Australia. WeWork was estimated to be valued at around $US47bn at its peak, but its market capitalisation has fallen to less than $US50m following a 98 per cent fall in its share price in 2023.

CORPORATES
WEWORK

Co-working occupancies coming back to life after brutal year

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Original article by Martin Kelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 & 32 : 17-Feb-21

Hub Australia CEO Brad Krauskopf says the average occupancy rate across his company’s eight co-working sites is currently around 70 per cent. This remains well below the pre-coronavirus average of more than 90 per cent, but Krauskopf notes that there has been a 250 per cent increase in enquiries since the start of 2021. The Commons’ MD Cliff Ho says occupancy at its Sydney Central site is almost back to the pre-pandemic level, although occupancy at its four sites in Melbourne is currently at around 70-75 per cent.

CORPORATES
HUB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, THE COMMONS

Towering infernos of cash

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Original article by Brad Norington, Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-May-20

Citigroup has forecast that the value of office buildings in Australia’s major CBDs could fall by more than 15 per cent in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Demand for centralised office space is likely to fall if the shift to working from home is sustained once the crisis abates. This in turn could put downward pressure on office rents. Meanwhile, JLL has forecast that the total amount of vacant office space across the nation’s CBDs will rise from 1.46 million square metres prior to the pandemic to about 1.88 million square metres by the end of 2020.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

WeWork juggernaut runs out of puff

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Original article by Ingrid Fuary-Wagner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 21-Nov-19

Media reports in the US have suggested that co-working pioneer WeWork will retrench 6,000 employees, which is nearly half of its global workforce. Meanwhile, WeWork’s Australian arm is believed to have cancelled deals to lease 20,000sq m of office space in the Sydney CBD and up to 50 per cent of an office building at 100 Queen Street in Melbourne. Sources have also indicated that a proposed deal for WeWork to acquire 401 Collins Street in Melbourne from Impact Investment Group is also unlikely to proceed. It would have been WeWork’s first real estate acquisition in Australia. The company currently has 16 co-working sites in Australia.

CORPORATES
WEWORK, WEWORK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, IMPACT INVESTMENT GROUP PTY LTD, SOFTBANK CORPORATION, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, CHINA INVESTMENT CORPORATION, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT

Blackstone bets big on Australia with $3.1b takeover bid for Investa

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 29-May-18

US fund manager Blackstone has announced a $A3.1 billion takeover bid for Investa Office Fund, with Investa directors having indicated their support for the offer. Investa’s property portfolio is valued at $A4 billion, with its assets including Barrack Place and Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney. Investa was the subject of an unsuccessful bid by Cromwell Property Group in 2017, while a bid for it by Dexus in 2016 also failed to succeed.

CORPORATES
INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, CROMWELL PROPERTY GROUP – ASX CMW, DEXUS – ASX DXS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, UNIBAIL-RODAMCO

Investors back Accor deal, says Mantra chief

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 13-Oct-17

Mantra Group shareholders are expected to vote in March 2018 on its proposed merger with Accor by means of a scheme of arrangement. Mantra Group head Bob East says its shareholders are very supportive of the $A1.3 billion merger, which will create an entity with over 300 hotels and around 15 per cent share of the Australian hotels market. The deal will also have to be approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board.

CORPORATES
MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, ACCOR SA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, PEPPERS HOTEL GROUP, BREAKFREE LIMITED, CHOICE HOTELS AUSTRALIA, MFS LIMITED, HIGHBURY PARTNERSHIP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, BT FINANCIAL GROUP PTY LTD, CENTRAL BANK OF NORWAY

Retail property sentiment dips

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 28-Jul-17

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the commercial property sector has revealed that sentiment is at its least optimistic in the retail property segment. Sentiment in that category is at its lowest since the end of 2014, in part due to the looming arrival of Amazon. Sentiment towards CBD hotels is also down, but sentiment in the office and industrial segments rose. Looking at individual states, sentiment has improved in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but declined in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Commercial yields to tighten further: AMP

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 16-Jun-17

Opinion is divided as to whether Australia’s commercial real estate sector is heading for a major downturn. Shane Quinn of Quintessential Equity says he can foresee "carnage" if banks decide to cut back on lending, but Adam Geha, the CEO of fund manager EG, says he cannot foresee a correction in the immediate future. Geha’s comments are echoed by AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver, who says a commercial property market crash looks to be unlikely.

CORPORATES
QUINTESSENTIAL EQUITY PTY LTD, EG CAPITAL PTY LTD, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Confidence in property hits two-year high

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 12-Jan-17

A survey by the ANZ Bank and the Property Council of Australia has found that confidence in the nation’s residential and commercial property markets has risen to its highest level in two years. The Property Confidence Index has risen by two points to 130 points for the March 2017 quarter, and Western Australia is the only state that has not recorded a rise in confidence. Interest rate expectations over the next 12 months have also risen significantly, particularly nationally and in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Foreign property interest to run strong

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Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 13 : 4-Jan-17

Foreign investors bought $A10 billion worth of Australian commercial property in 2016. Large transactions included the acquisition of Dexus’s Southgate complex in Melbourne by ARA Property Group. The $A578 million transaction was executed in August. JLL CEO Stephen Conry expects strong interest in Australian property among foreign buyers to continue in 2017.

CORPORATES
JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, ARA PROPERTY GROUP, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, INMARK PTY LTD, ASCENDAS PTE LTD, SINGBRIDGE GROUP, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED