222 Exhibition Street

About the building

Rising over 29 levels including parking, retail and commercial spaces, 222 Exhibition Street boasts stunning, protected views across Melbourne. Its convenient location is just 300 meters to Parliament Station and a short walk to the Bourke Street Tram, with direct accessibility to some of Melbourne’s best parks, gardens, gymnasiums and bicycle paths. The building has a strong focus on wellness in the workplace. With a brand-new end-of-trip facility delivered in early 2017, including 300 lockers, 222 bike racks and 14 showers.

Investment rationale

In 2010, the building underwent a plant and equipment overhaul, elevating the overall offering and paving the way for the new rejuvenation works which will see it better meet the needs of the modern workforce and offer one of the most compelling leasing opportunities within the Melbourne central business district. The investment management team for the custom account client believes that this prime location in a highly sought-after office market, when combined with the building’s strong environmental credentials, will make it a strong and reliable asset for many years to come.

LaSalle’s client owns a 50% stake in 222 Exhibition Street.

Environmental credentials

In line with LaSalle’s and its client’s sustainable investment objectives, occupants benefit from the ability of 222 Exhibition Street’s predictive maintenance system to reduce the property’s energy consumption by reducing the amount of unnecessary maintenance work typically carried out at commercial buildings. Using continuous monitoring equipment, the system also alerts property management electronically of the need to carry out maintenance at a scheduled point in time when the maintenance activity is most cost-effective and before the equipment loses performance within a certain threshold. The system enables service technicians to immediately find the root causes of problems, resulting in a more efficient use of their time. The predictive maintenance system has resulted in energy saving of 11.5% (weather adjusted) and a 68% reduction in maintenance costs over an assessment period between September 2016 to July 2017, despite occupancy increasing by 13% over the same period.

Recognition

In 2017, 222 Exhibition Street won the Collaborative Partnerships Award presented by the Facilities Management Association (FMA) for the building’s predictive maintenance system. The building has also been certified “Carbon Neutral,” Climate Active’s top certification in Australia and, in partnership with the property manager, LaSalle planned and delivered a 5.5-star Energy and 6-star Water NABERS rated asset, ahead of schedule. This significant commitment includes extensive environmental performance upgrades to improve the energy, waste, water and indoor environmental performance of the building.