Office landlords are shrugging off the impacts of the global pandemic with new commercial properties earmarked for development amid forecasts of a recovery in the CBD office sector.
Fewer than one in three shops in GPT Group’s Melbourne and Sydney shopping centres are open at the moment as extended lockdowns in both cities begin to bite into what was a “strong recovery.”
Property group GPT is joining the rush with its listed real estate investment trusts (REIT) peers into increasing its funds management platform,which is run through its wholesale office and shopping centre trusts.
Diversified property group GPT has forecast an 8 per cent growth in earning for the full year underpinned by improving consumer confidence and the assumption of no new shocks coming from the global pandemic.
Listed property trusts in the challenged office and discretionary retail sectors are trading at discounts not seen since the global financial crisis.
Prospective tenants are now asking to physically inspect premises,which hasn’t happened since the start of the pandemic.
In the face of the pandemic and workers’ reluctance to return to old commuting habits,many blue-chip corporations are delaying making decisions and reassessing how they will use their office spaces.
As we emerge from the crisis,it is imperative that the property industry continues the digital transformation of building management.
Shopping mall owners and tenants are on the hunt for better use of their spaces.
Providing rent relief to COVID-hit tenants has cost diversified landlord GPT nearly $100 million.
Diversified landlord GPT has sealed an $800 million joint venture with an industrial-focused Vancouver-based fund manger.