Australia’s leading independent law firm, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, has advised Coles Group Limited (Coles) on the lease of its new national commercial office headquarters and store support centre at 720 Bourke Street.
The transaction will see Coles lease part of the building, for a significant term, following an extensive building retrofit. Although moves of this nature are typically into newly developed office precincts or towers, the selection of an existing, well-located and enviromentally credentialed building with certified net zero carbon operations represents a sustainable outcome and significiantly de-risks delivery and timeframes. The move out of its current headquarters at 800 Toorak Road in Hawthorn East and into the Melbourne CBD signifies a desire in Coles to attract a larger talent pool to its Store Support Centre workforce given 720 Bourke Street’s greater access to public transport networks.
Led by partner Nathaniel Popelianski, special counsel Lauren Ielasi, senior associate Jeremy Brown, and supported by partners Phil Catania, Jennee Chan and Heidi Roberts, Corrs advised on the transaction with support from the firm’s real estate, responsible business and ESG, tax and technology, media and telecommunications practices.
Commenting on the matter, Nathaniel Popelianski said: “We are delighted to advise Coles on securing its future headquarters in one of Melbourne’s largest office leasing transactions of the year.
“The transaction is a major boost to the CBD commercial office market, demonstrates a willingness for major occupiers to select existing building refits and exemplifies Corrs’ reputation as a market-leader in large-scale office transactions.”