One of Australia’s most ESG advanced office redevelopments comes to market

SYDNEY, 6 June 2022 – Merchant House is a $400 million Sydney CBD office redevelopment being offered for sale, with construction already underway for the redevelopment of this boutique commercial building.

JLL’s Luke Billiau, Paul Noonan and Simon Storry together with Knight Frank’s Paul Roberts, Jonathan Vaughan and Nell Brookes have been exclusively appointed to sell Merchant House at 333 Kent Street, Sydney, via an international Expressions-Of-Interest campaign.

Designed by renowned architectural firms WMK and Woods Bagot, Merchant House incorporates the building’s iconic heritage façade and adaptively reuses all of the existing structure, delivering 14,173 sqm (NLA) of high-quality A-Grade office space across 16 floors. Practical completion is slated for Q3 2024.

This exciting project is being delivered by Sydney based developer Addenbrooke in partnership with Super Ocean Group and Phoenix Property Investors. This team boasts a very successful delivery track record not only in Australia but also through the Asia Pacific region.

Mr Billiau said, “The building has been designed to meet the future tenant demands of the post-pandemic workplace. Importantly, by utilising the existing building structure in the rebuild, there will be an estimated 60% reduction in embodied carbon during construction and a 50% carbon reduction in building operation when complete.”

Environmentally sustainable design (ESD) is at the core of the redevelopment, including solar panel systems, electric vehicle charging points, hydraulic efficiency, solar panels, smart systems and touchless technology. Merchant House is targeting a 5-star NABERS energy rating and 5-star Green Star As-Built rating upon completion.

Mr Billiau said, “This sale campaign coincides with a surge in demand for high quality assets in the Sydney CBD and a lack of foreseeable deal pipeline for the balance of the year.”

The Western precinct has become a new focal point of the CBD and benefits from a diverse mix of occupiers across industries and strong demand from small to medium sized tenants. The asset provides an attractive price point for occupiers when benchmarked to the core precinct of the Sydney CBD.

Mr Roberts said, “The ability to acquire a market leading office asset in this type of structure will be advantageous to all groups in boosting overall investment returns. The ESG credentials, and flexible floor plate design will have high appeal to investors and occupiers alike – this property is like nothing delivered before in the Western Corridor.

“Knight Frank sees a real undersupply of prime stock in the Western Corridor precinct with only 6% of the future supply being delivered in this segment of the market. 333 Kent Street will go partway to satisfying the demand in this market and will be keenly sought,” said Mr Roberts.

The hotel-quality experience offers a state-of-the-art wellness centre, unique external breakout spaces, treatment rooms and luxury end of trip facilities, which will see Merchant House become the epicentre and pulse of Kent Street. The commercial space enjoys abundant natural light with floor to ceiling glass panels and expansive views from the upper floors that overlook Darling Harbour to the west and Sydney CBD to the east.

International Expressions-Of-Interest for 333 Kent Street, Sydney close on 21^st July 2022 at 4pm (AEST).