Leighton celebrates 567 Collins Street groundbreaking

Leighton Properties announced that it had formally signed Leighton Contractors to almost 13,000 square metres of its 567 Collins St building in Melbourne.

It was announced today as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, turned the first sod on the development in the location in the western end of the CBD on the edge of Docklands.

Hamish Tyrwhitt, the Leighton Holdings chief and Mark Gray the Leighton Properties managing director and Peter Hicks, the Leighton Contractors chief financial officer presided over the formal groundbreaking ceremony. Presumably a few lawyers were there too since the other anchor tenants are Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

On its mid-2015 completion, the 567 Collins Street tower with 55,000 square metre space will be the largest PCA premium grade tower constructed in Melbourne in the last  25 years.

Its will occupy a site of 3,942 square metres with a 74 metre frontage to Collins Street between Spencer and King Streets.

The 26 level tower is about 50% leased following the announcement of a major new lease to Leighton Contractors.

Leighton Contractors will establish its Victorian head office across 12,700 sqm of the campus component of the building.

Leighton bought into the site in 2008, but it remained one of Collins Street's ugliest development sites for another five years.

The site - a former car park - had struggled to attract a tenant initially under the ownership of the Stamoulis family, which bought it from the government for $8.5 million in 2003.

At one point around 2008, its then owner developer, APN Funds Management was close to securing law firm Allens Arthur Robinson (AAR) as a major tenant.

Its had a permit for a high-rise building issued since 1988.