Poly Kicks Off Construction at $500m Poly Centre

Poly Australia has officially broken ground on its flagship commercial development, the Poly Centre at Circular Quay in Sydney.

The A-grade office tower, located at 210 George Street, was anticipated to commence construction in early 2019, but was delayed following an “intricate project journey” according to the developer.

Poly, backed by Chinese conglomerate China Poly Group, will use the 107-metre tall Grimshaw-designed tower, as its first international foray into the commercial development space.

Construction is now under way on the $500 million-plus office tower, which will consist of 19,700sq m of office space across 27-storeys and 1,000sq m of George Street-facing retail.

Poly offered up a half-stake in the project last year for between $260 million and $270 million.

It is understood that Singaporean asset manager Keppel Capital remains in pole position to secure the stake and co-invest in the development after GPT's unlisted office declined to proceed.

Poly, which launched in Australia in 2014, has built up a pipeline of more than $2 billion under the guidance of managing director Arthur Wang.

The developer has also recently purchased its second acquisition globally, a 26-storey office tower at 59 Goulburn Street for $270 million and is working on a 24-storey commercial tower at 1000 La Trobe Street at Docklands in Melbourne.

The 23-level Woods Bagot-designed tower will feature 40,000sq m of lettable area.

Poly, along with construction group Watpac, recently completed demolition works on site, leaving a large hole in the centre of Sydney's CBD for a number of weeks.

Watpac NSW state manager John Koerner said the project team was well-positioned to progress to the next stage of construction and despite the challenging economic environment onset by the coronavirus.

“As we complete all substructure works and prepare to come out of the ground we continue to implement Covid-19 safety measures, including, social distancing, hygiene and cleaning processes on site,” Koerner said.

“Our team must be commended for the diligent and collaborative approach in working with Transport for NSW and City of Sydney to enable approvals for construction works in and around the Sydney light rail.”