Investa

Investa secures third tenant for the Ark North Sydney

Australian Worldwide Exploration Limited (AWE) has chosen level 16 of Investa Property Group’s Ark office development at 40 Mount Street, North Sydney as its new headquarters.

Ark is now 80% leased with Investa confident that the building will be close to fully tenanted when it is officially opened in mid 2010.

AWE joins Coca-Cola Amatil and Vodafone Hutchison Australia in relocating their head office to the 6 Star Green Star rated commercial office building.

With uninterrupted harbour views from level 16, AWE will lease the entire 1,212m² floor.

The managing director of AWE, Bruce Wood, said, “The environmentally friendly design of this new space fits well with AWE’s corporate philosophy to leave all communities in which we operate better off for our presence and operations. The building’s design and sustainability made this location an easy choice for us”.

Tina Tang, Group General Manager Developments for Investa said, “Ark is the only new office space available in North Sydney until at least 2012. The quality of tenants moving in when construction is complete next year is indicative of the built-up demand Investa anticipated when planning this development”.

“The three leasing deals struck for Ark are a stand out in the economic climate of the past 12 months and reinforce Investa’s belief that there will always be a market for quality product”.

North Sydney is a prime fringe CBD location in a vibrant business district, and the distinctive Ark building at 40 Mount Street adds 28,500 m² of net lettable office space to the precinct.

Advanced technology, an entrance that features four major works of art commissioned from some of Australia’s leading artists, and great neighbourhood interaction are some of the features that have appealed to tenants. Ark has full height floor to ceiling glass on three sides and a side-located service core, giving maximum floorplate flexibility, and excellent light penetration to the general work space.

AWE were introduced to Investa by Colliers.

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For further information contact:
Investa Property Group
General Manager – Marketing, Katie Barton-Harvey
on 02 8226 9391 or 0427 234 862, kbarton-harvey@investa.com.au

About Ark, 40 Mount Street, North Sydney NSW
Ark comprises 28,500m² NLA of A-grade office space over 21 floors and is currently under construction, due for completion in mid 2010. Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) have agreed to occupy Level 8-15 approximately 10,480m² in Ark on a 10 year lease term and will move from the company’s current headquarters in Macquarie Street, Sydney to Ark upon completion. Vodafone Hutchison Australia signed up for approximately 11,000m² of office space taking the second to seventh floors for 10 years with option periods.

Ark has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star – Office Design v2 Certified Rating, which represents “World Leadership” in environmentally sustainable design.

Genia McCaffery, Mayor of North Sydney Council said “Ark will be a great asset to North Sydney. The building sets a new benchmark in sustainable development that helps confirm North Sydney as the green CBD. Council has worked closely with Investa on this development and we are confident that Ark will be a landmark building that will anchor the CBD and attract quality tenants.”

Ark’s green features include:
- a greywater recycling system,
- a tri-generation plant,
- efficient lighting and controls,
- parking and charging bays for electric and hybrid pool cars,
- cycling facilities (including bike racks, lockers and showers),
- a 3D Building Information Model (BIM) which combines all of the design as-built information about the architecture, services and fit outs in the building. This allows for both efficient construction and operation, and is leading technology in the industry.

About Investa Property Group
Investa is one of Australia’s largest unlisted owners of commercial real estate. Headquartered in Sydney, Investa has management & development offices in Melbourne, Brisbane & Perth.

Since its inception in 2000, Investa has grown to control real estate assets of approximately AU$8.1 billion (as at 30/09/09). In 2008, Investa won Australia’s most prestigious prize for addressing climate change, the Banksia Climate Change Award.

Investa has proven experience in three key business areas:
•   Commercial Office Group
Investa boasts a fully integrated commercial real estate business. Investa buys, sells, owns, develops and manages high-quality office buildings in premier locations in Australia’s capitals. This end-to-end business model gives Investa the ability to ensure optimum quality and performance of its properties and its property services. Earlier this year Investa signed what is believed to be Australia’s largest leasing deal in the history of commercial office transactions for over 115,000m² of office space with Telstra. Recently Investa also undertook the biggest development deal to be completed in Sydney this year with the sale of Kindersley House, 33 Bligh Street to EnergyAustralia.

•   Funds Management
Investa manages a range of wholesale and retail property funds on behalf of over 4,000 clients, who encompass institutions, superannuation funds, industry funds and retail investors.

•   Land Development
Investa undertakes commercial, industrial and residential development in select locations across Australia. Investa’s residential land developments encompass broad-acre subdivisions in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.