Marquette sees strong future in Brisbane’s River Quarter

Marquette Properties has leased 17,030 sqm of office space in Brisbane’s Gold and Blue towers as the city’s leasing market continues to tighten and a sense of FOMO takes hold.

A mix of engineering, finance, legal, accounting, IT, consulting, resources and professional services firms have secured space in the two Eagle Street buildings in the past six months across 21 separate deals.

Steered by CBRE’s Andy McPhail and Chris Butters in conjunction with Marquette Properties, the lease deals include CIMIC (8,100sqm), MOORE Group (1,800sqm), Scyne Advisory (1,088sqm), CISCO (954sqm) and Minerology (954sqm), alongside a raft of sub-1,000sqm transactions involving small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Marquette’s Director of Asset Management Matthew Creagh noted, “Occupiers in Brisbane are valuing location more than ever before, and we are seeing an influx of leading corporate and SME tenants into the city’s River Quarter. This comes ahead of the Dexus Waterfront project and the Cross River Rail Metro being completed and is being by FOMO in a tightening market, coupled with a recognition that Brisbane’s city centre is being redefined from a corporate perspective.”

The deals have been struck at gross rates ranging from $1,075/sqm-1,095/sqm in the Gold Tower and from $1,095/sqm-$1,250/sqm in the Blue Tower & Annex.

Both buildings are now majority leased, with the only space of scale involving two whole floors becoming available at Gold Tower.

“The buildings provide a compelling value proposition, as Premium rent growth outpaces what’s occurring in Brisbane’s A-grade office market. The 30%+ rental spread between Premium and A grade is the highest it’s been in almost 20 years and occupiers see real value in refurbished A-grade assets in the right location,” Mr Creagh said.

CBRE’s Mr McPhail said the high-quality workplaces and turn-key fitouts being delivered by Marquette at the Gold and Blue towers were continuing to attract strong occupier interest.

“We expect this trend will continue as further space becomes available across both assets. Tenant interest is also being underpinned by the precinct infrastructure which has been recently completed or is construction in Brisbane’s River Quarter, delivering world class F&B, wellness and high-end retail amenity,” Mr McPhail said.

This includes the Anyday restaurant precinct, the restored Naldham House, Dexus’ Waterfront Brisbane development and the Cross River Rail project.