Charter Hall Group (Charter Hall or the Group) and Abacus Group (ASX:ABP) are pleased to announce their joint application to develop a podium extension at 201 Elizabeth Street in Sydney’s CBD, has received approval from the City of Sydney.

201 Elizabeth Street – purchased by Charter Hall (68%) and Abacus (32%) in 2019 for $630 million – occupies a prominent corner location with street frontages onto Elizabeth, Park and Castlereagh streets.

The A-grade, 38-storey modernist office tower features excellent access to premium retail, dining, entertainment and transport precincts, including the new Sydney Metro Pitt Street Station, scheduled to open in 2024. It is uniquely positioned directly across from Hyde Park, capturing natural light from all sides and eastern views to the Harbour, allowing tenants to feel connected to nature, and each other.

The endorsed development application at 201 Elizabeth Street allows for the reinvigoration and enhancement of the 1978 building, with:

• Adaptive re-use of the existing tower, that will be retained and complimented by a new 11- storey podium, with large floorplates up to 1,900m2. This will add a further 8,600m2 of A-grade office space, increasing the gross floor area from 40,200m2 to 48,800m2.
• Landscaped urban roof terrace, state-of-the-art arrival, end-of-trip and wellness experiences supported by a transformed southern courtyard, which will provide direct access to Museum station.
• Industry-leading sustainability targets for the new podium, including a high-performance façade featuring solar photovoltaic (PV) panels offering sun shading and on-site power generation.
• Revitalised ground floor with approximately 900m2 of new retail to activate Castlereagh and Park streets.

Charter Hall Managing Director & Group CEO, David Harrison, said, “At Charter Hall, we hold the unique capability to enhance existing properties, develop-to-core, retain and attract high-quality tenant customers while providing strong returns for our investors.”

“Our development at 201 Elizabeth Street is the latest example of Charter Hall’s proven expertise in unlocking hidden value with innovation, sustainability, economic stimulation and human experience – these are at the heart of everything we do.”

Charter Hall Office CEO, Carmel Hourigan, said, “The endorsement of the City of Sydney to proceed with the adaptive re-use of 201 Elizabeth Street demonstrates the ongoing demand for high-quality office buildings in the city’s CBD.”

“We are witnessing – and responding to – an unprecedented flight-to-quality towards workplaces offering superior amenity, sustainability and wellness facilities that provide collaboration, cutting-edge technology, social interaction and human connection.”

The major transformation of 201 Elizabeth Street will deliver a new benchmark in workplace design and drive the return to work through establishing strong wellness credentials, with the entire asset targeting the following ESG ratings on completion:

•  5-star Green Star
•  5-star NABERS Energy
• 4-star NABERS Water
• Gold WELL Certification.

The development will be one of the first to commit to meeting the City of Sydney’s target of 25% energy reduction in new assets by 2023 with Charter Hall’s Office portfolio recently receiving international recognition for global leadership in sustainable development by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). 201 Elizabeth Street is also committing to a 20% embodied carbon reduction with a focus on the procurement of low embodied carbon structural materials, including steel and concrete.

With more than 30 years of commercial property experience, Charter Hall is now the largest landlord in Australia with over $70 billion in funds under management across office, retail, industrial and logistics, as well as social infrastructure assets.

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