Flight to quality in West Perth

Perth, 03 November 2015 – The West Perth office market has recently experienced a wave of building upgrades and refurbishment projects, driven by growing tenant demand for quality amenities.

Daniel Johnston, CBRE Office Services Negotiator, said the significantly higher combined vacancy rate of B and C grade buildings, at 26.8% compared to 5.7% for A grade buildings, is evidence that West Perth tenants are taking advantage of the soft market to improve the quality of their premises.

This increased divergence between vacancy rates of secondary and prime grade buildings is prompting owners to look at refurbishment ventures to attract and retain tenants.

“As the West Perth vacancy rate remains steady at 11%, landlords are increasingly turning to building refurbishments to give their property a competitive edge,” Mr Johnston said.

Demonstrating this trend, 1-5 Havelock Street recently completed an extensive amenities renovation which included lobby upgrade, full base building refurbishment of the second floor including bathrooms and the establishment of large new ‘end of trip’ facilities in the basement including bike racks, showers, lockers and change rooms.

Following these upgrades1-5 Havelock Street saw a significant increase in tenant enquires for the available tenancies and all vacant areas have now been leased.

The IBM Building, located at 1060 Hay Street, West Perth, also installed a large state of the art ‘end of trip’ facility that is well used by the existing tenants, as well as upgrading the main building lobby.

Quality end of trip and bike store facilities, in addition to lobby and lift upgrades and bathroom refurbishments are currently the focus for landlords in West Perth, as these facilities are influencing tenant decisions and becoming a standard requirement for quality grade buildings.