ANZ in prize spot
New home in Townsville CBD suits bank’s needs
THE ground floor tenancy of a twolevel office building on the corner of Sturt and Stanley streets will be the new home of the ANZ Bank in Townsville’s CBD.
The bank, which currently trades at 121 Sturt St, has announced it will relocate and open at the new location on November 10.
E-property Consultants NQ agent Steve Whaling said the move would mean a return of banking to a location which has served at least three banks.
Bendigo Bank last traded at the site about two years ago until it closed in the CBD, a move which has been replicated in other centres including
Cairns. National Australia Bank has also previously traded in the Sturt St location. Mr Whaling said it was a premium CBD tenancy in a key location.
“The 519sq m vacancy had languished on the market for some time before being short-listed by ANZ for its obvious positional advantage,” Mr Whaling said.
“Although larger than their initial brief, we were able to offer attractive commercial terms to make it viable for the tenant for an initial five-year commitment.”
He said ANZ was introduced to EProperty Consultants NQ by Michael Quinlan at Quinlan Property Group, while E-property Consultants NQ short-listed properties to suit the bank’s needs and negotiated lease terms.
He said the bank had taken advantage of the better exposure and better position. While the bank required a lesser area of around 300sq m, an incentive was offered for the larger 519sq m office.
“The rate was competitive so they were happy to take up more space for a lower rate,” Mr Whaling said.
He said the leasing market was picking up on the back of an improving local economy which had been spared, at least to this point, the disruption caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 in southern states.
He said there was a lot of movement occurring with companies either downsizing or requiring larger premises to accommodate growth.
Also, a lot of owner-occupier businesses were taking advantage of market conditions to buy their own premises.
“Across the board the market is improving,” Mr Whaling said.
The site is opposite the Woolworths supermarket and City Lane development.
It has plate glass frontage and generous branding opportunities, including naming rights to the building.
According to Herron Todd White’s latest Townsville in Focus report, the CBD office vacancy rate is around 31 per cent, including 22.8 per cent for A grade premises.