Lendlease Stacks $100m from ‘Bird’s Nest’ and Barangaroo House

Lendlease has finalised the sale of two distinct Sydney CBD buildings with the Kengo Kuma-designed The Exchange at Darling Square and Barangaroo House on Sydney’s waterfront changing hands for more than $100 million.

It’s understood two Asian-backed investment groups secured the CBD assets, with CBRE negotiating both deals for the separate investors.

Darling Square’s The Exchange changed hands for around $70 million after hitting the block in September last year.

Related: Billion Dollar Views: Crown, Lendlease Win Legal Dispute with NSW

The six-storey 6,083sq m building, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, known as the “bird nest”, is wrapped in almost 20-kilometres of timber and is located at the former Sydney Entertainment Centre site.

The Exchange includes a ground floor market hall, mezzanine restaurant XOPP by Golden Century Group and City of Sydney library across two-levels.

While Barangaroo House includes three-levels leased by hospitality group Solotel owned by chef Matt Moran and Bruce Solomon, at 35 Barangaroo Avenue in the Barangaroo South precinct.

The Collins and Turner-designed 1,490sq m building, hit the market in March this year with a price guide of around $35 million.

CBRE’s senior director Sharon Yang said bidding on both assets was “highly competitive” with both properties attracting eight bidders.

“Buyer demand – and acquisition of The Exchange by a first time Australian investor – highlights the continued strong interest in well-located commercial assets that offer strong cash flows and future rental upside,” Yang said.

Last week Lendlease launched its $1.9 billion skyscraper in Sydney’s Circular Quay, signing global software agency Salesforce as an anchor tenant.

Lendlease is developing the Foster + Partners, 263-metre, 53-storey tower, set to become Sydney’s tallest office building, in partnership with China’s Ping An Real Estate and Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate Asia.