SINGAPORE - Ascendas-Singbridge Group said on Friday (Aug 18) it has inked a contract with GDI Property Group to acquire 66 Goulburn Street, a prime office building in Sydney's central business district for A$252 million (about S$270 million).

66 Goulburn Street has a net lettable area of approximately 22,890 sq m over 24 office levels, a ground floor retail space and 53 basement parking spaces.

Located at the corner of Goulburn and Castlereagh streets, the building is near major court buildings such as Downing Centre Courts and Family Law Court. It houses government entities as well as financial services and legal firms.

Said Mr Jonathan Yap, Ascendas-Singbridge's chief investment officer and head of real estate funds: "Since acquiring 100 Arthur Street in North Sydney last year, we have been actively sourcing for suitable opportunities to expand our office portfolio in Australia. This asset has a relatively long weighted average lease expiry profile and good covenant tenants.

"It represents an attractive investment proposition against the backdrop of office supply removal in the midtown precinct due to residential conversions and limited new office supply across Sydney CBD over the next few years. Hence, market rental growth is forecast to remain strong for the mid-term with decreasing rental incentives."

With its latest acquisition, Ascendas-Singbridge has built up a pan-Asian office portfolio consisting of approximately 312,000 sq m of office assets and an additional 75,000 sq m under development across Sydney, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai.

It also expands Ascendas-Singbridge's total assets under management, including those held by Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust in Australia, to approximately $2.6 billion.

Ascendas-Singbridge is jointly owned by Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation through a 51:49 partnership.