Mallesons in biggest Qld lease
MALLESONS STEPHEN JAQUES has helped Telstra to complete the largest property leasing arrangement in Brisbane’s history.The telco will move around 4,500 Brisbane staff from eight separate
MALLESONS STEPHEN JAQUES has helped Telstra to complete the largest property leasing arrangement in Brisbane’s history.
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said the 50,000 sq metre, 10-year lease agreement with property developer Charter Hall will save them $11.5 million annually from 2009.
Lead partner on the deal, Andrew Flannery, said his team had experienced similar deals, but “in this case … a very commercial approach was required to achieve success in a very tight timeframe”.
“We were able to fully document the deal in a fraction of the time it would normally take such a complex transaction. Significant cost savings, efficiencies and synergies were delivered by the intense negotiation parameters set by Telstra,” Flannery said.
Construction on both buildings will begin this year, with Charter Hall building a new 30-storey, 41,000 sq metre tower at 275 George Street, and refurbishing the adjoining Northbank Plaza at 69 Ann Street to take 2,000 call centre staff from 2008.
Mallesons’ team worked closely with David Stewart, Telstra’s property legal counsel. Telstra director of property, Vito Chiodo, said both were “on top of the detail but could still see the bigger commercial picture and were able to think strategically”.