Westpac Pre-Commits to Leighton Properties’ Sydney Office Tower Development

Company Announcements Office
The Australian Stock Exchange Limited
Level 4
20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Re: Westpac Pre-Commits to Leighton Properties’ Sydney Office Tower Development

Dear Sir,

Please find attached a copy of a media release to be issued today by Leighton Properties Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings Limited.

Yours sincerely,


A.J. MOIR
Company Secretary

Westpac Pre-Commits to Leighton Properties’ Sydney Office Tower Development

Issue Date: 7 March 2003
Issued by: Leighton Properties Pty Limited

In one of the most significant property deals seen in Sydney, Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) has pre-committed to lease Leighton Properties Pty Limited’s (Leighton Properties) entire KENS commercial office tower development in Sydney’s CBD, worth over $600 million.  Westpac will consolidate 10 separate CBD offices into two locations, including the new 33 storey building close to Darling Harbour.

Featuring an innovative design by Johnson Pilton and Walker, Architects, the KENS development makes use of two connected towers to provide approximately 73,620m² of commercial office space, 3,020m² of service and retail areas, 814 car parking spaces and an urban landscaped park. Located over an entire city block within the precinct defined by Kent, Erskine, Napoleon and Sussex Streets, the site occupies a unique and commanding position in the western corridor of the Sydney CBD.  

As part of the pre-commitment agreement to lease the commercial office space, Westpac has also agreed to pre-purchase the completed development from Leighton Properties on completion.

Leighton Properties Managing Director, Mr Vyril Vella, said the agreement with Westpac represented the culmination of 3 years of work on the development, which will be the second largest building by area, in terms of commercial office space, in the Sydney CBD after Grosvenor Place.

“We have been pursuing this development since 2000 and are delighted that Westpac have pre-committed to lease all of the office space. Westpac will sign a 12-year lease on the building with three, six-year options,” said Mr Vella.

“The pre-purchase agreement is a bonus for Leighton Properties as it secures the project and removes the need for us to find other investors. In addition, the agreement with Westpac enables the bank to provide an excellent investment opportunity for its investors and customers,” he said.

The KENS development is effectively the last complete city block available for development. It is currently the site of a public car park and a number of heritage listed buildings, which will be incorporated into the development. Demolition of the car park should commence in April 2003, with construction of the office towers scheduled to commence in 2003 and to be completed by January 2006.

“We are very grateful to the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, the Council of the City of Sydney and the Central Sydney Planning Committee for their support in progressing this development. The development will act as a focal point on the Western edge of Sydney’s CBD, forming part of the urban revitalisation that has seen the King Street Wharf Development proceed and the relocation of other corporations such as Lend Lease and KPMG to the area,” said Mr Vella.

The proposed development will be comprised of:

• 73,620m² nett lettable area (NLA) of commercial space with ‘campus style’ floor plates ranging from 3,500m² in the podium, to 2,600m² at mid-rise and 1,880m² at the top levels.
• State-of-the-art technology including advanced ESD principles to minimise environmental impacts and reduce energy costs, with a four star Sustainable Energy rating.
• 3,020m² of NLA of retail space.
• 650 space public carpark to be owned and operated by Multistar Pty Ltd.
• 214 space tenant carpark.
• Service retail facilities including a food court, a retail bank and childcare facilities.
• A large, north facing ‘pocket park’ urban space, available for public use.
• Conservation, refurbishment and infill of the heritage listed Erskine Street terraces. The terraces will be double fronted to enliven the public amenity at street level.
• Through site public links connecting the Darling Harbour Wharves to Wynyard.

The public urban space is designed to capture the historical and maritime references of the area, in particular the original harbour’s edge and terracing, and will make use of raw textured materials including sandstone and wharf timbers. The park will be complemented by the adjoining retail and food court servicing the Westpac staff that will reside in the building.

A Facilities Management contract has been entered into with Infocus, a joint venture between Leighton Contractors and the James Fielding Group.

For more information please contact:
Vyril Vella
Managing Director
Leighton Properties
(02) 9925 6898

Mark Gray
Manager NSW
Leighton Properties
(02) 9925 6885 or mobile 0412 728 299

Attachments:
Photomontage of Sydney Western corridor showing proposed development view pdf (0.4Mb) >
Photomontage of proposed development view pdf (0.4Mb) >