Cbus gets green light for $1b Melbourne office tower

Cbus gets green light for $1b Melbourne office tower

24 January 2020

Cbus Property has won approval from Victorian state planners for a $1 billion-plus office tower that will reach 49-storeys in Melbourne’s CBD.

The 59,000sq m tower, that will straddle four addresses around the corner of Bourke and Queen streets, was signed off by Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne following a lengthy application period.

The 59,000sq m commercial building is one of the first to be approved under the Victorian government’s so-called C270 rules governing site density and setbacks, implemented to limit residential development in the city centre.

These new regulations have resulted in a tower that will see floorplates range between 1,300 and 1,700 square metres.

The commercial precinct, which is anticipated to serve as a vertical village for more than 5,500 city workers, is targeting a 6-star Green Star rating, 5.5-star NABERS Energy rating and a Platinum WELL rating—and will include a four-level wellness hub.

Cbus Property chief executive Adrian Pozzo said that made the tower available to a wide range of employers, including legal firms, wanting between 3000sq m and 5000sq m.

“There are so many different tenant requirements out there,” Mr Pozzo told The Australian Financial Review.

“The tenant market is forever changing. Not long ago we were talking of [an office space ratio of] 1:12 [square metres per worker]. Now it’s 1:10.

“The work environment is continually changing and we’ve got to continually change with it to come to grips with it and to develop new products for it.

“Office vacancy rates in Melbourne’s CBD are at decade lows and there is little to no office space in the pipeline beyond 2023 so we are looking forward to sating some of this appetite with 435 Bourke Street,” Pozzo told The Urban Developer.

“We are aiming to be ahead of the curb by designing a building with a lot of forethought today to ensure that will meet occupant needs when it is finished in 2023.”

The tower will form part of a new centre point in the Hoddle Grid and will feature multiple landscaped terraces providing an outlook across the Yarra River and iconic CBD landmarks, such as the MCG and Port Phillip Bay.

Demolition of the site’s existing infrastructure has commenced, with construction