Cromwell Funds Management has completed a second major acquisition on behalf of the Cromwell Direct Property Fund, with the purchase of a six-storey, Grade A office building in the Canberra for the sum of $16.8 million.
The property is situated at 64 Allara Street, Canberra, and was built in 2008. It is fully leased to a number of high-quality tenants, including property developer CIC Australia, international technical services company Jacobs, and Airservices Australia, a government-owned corporation.
This is the second direct property investment for the Fund after the purchase of a planned retail complex at Parafield in South Australia for $27.25 million last month. The Fund is a stakeholder in four of Cromwell’s “back to basics” property trusts.
Cromwell Funds’ latest acquisition has a total net rentable area of 3,155 sq m (34,000 sq ft). The property also has 200 sq m (2,153 sq ft) of storage space, as well as parking for 98 vehicles spread over a two-level basement car park. The site is in the south eastern section of the Canberra CBD and has a direct link to the Canberra Centre retail mall.
Michael Blake, Cromwell Funds Management Director, said, “The acquisition is consistent with our philosophy of actively managing portfolios for our investors to maximise risk-adjusted returns for the medium to long term.
“It is a relatively new asset in a great location with a diverse range of high quality tenants. Furthermore, it is ideally positioned to take advantage of any redevelopment that may occur as part of the City to the Lake project being proposed by the ACT Government.”
The acquisition serves to diversity the Fund’s portfolio, both geographically and by tenant. The weighted average lease expiry is 11.6 years.
