A joint application to develop a podium extension at 201 Elizabeth Street in Sydney’s CBD, has received approval from the City of Sydney.
The A-grade, 38-storey building – purchased by Charter Hall Group (68%) and Abacus Group (32%) in 2019 for $630 million – occupies a corner location with street frontages onto Elizabeth, Park and Castlereagh streets.
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 complemented 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 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 5-star Green Star, 5-star NABERS Energy, 4-star NABERS Water, and Gold WELL Certification.
The development will be one of the first to commit to meeting the City of Sydney’s target of 25 per cent 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).
The development is also committing to a 20 per cent embodied carbon reduction with a focus on the procurement of low embodied carbon structural materials, including steel and concrete.
