Channel Nine’s wide-ranging search for a new home has speculatively linked the station with a variety of developments, including the state government’s Elizabeth Quay project.
Channel Nine’s wide-ranging search for a new home has speculatively linked the station with a variety of developments, including the state government’s Elizabeth Quay project.
Industry talk concerning Nine’s move comes as the competitive campaign for the two mixed-use sites at Elizabeth Quay nears completion.
It’s understood only two contenders are left in the race for these commercial/residential/retail sites, known as lots five and six, including a consortium led by architects Hassell and Brookfield Multiplex.
Elizabeth Quay has already secured Chevron as one of its high-profile tenants, and television industry insiders report Nine is keen to secure a more central location than its long-term Dianella home.
The station is understood to have run the rule over a wide variety of projects in the past few months, including QUBE Property Group’s Subiaco Green office project, and Celtic Capital Properties’ office project at 29 Roydhouse Street, Subiaco.
Property market analysts suggest Elizabeth Quay would be too pricey for Nine, but the station only requires a relatively small amount of floor space – about 2,000 square metres in total.
A bigger hurdle may be helicopter access to the city site, although Nine could follow the lead of rival Channel Seven, which will base its choppers out of Jandakot when it relocates to Osborne Park later this year.
Nine Network Australia general manager Scott Soutar would not reveal how close it was to making a final decision, except to say Nine was continuing to review options to relocate from Dianella.
“We have been in conversations with a number of landlords but the reality is we have some very specialised requirements in relation to what goes into a studio,” Mr Soutar told Business News.
“Nothing is leaping off the page for Nine at this stage ... we’ve been at Dianella for 50 years so we need to make the right choice.
“Ours is not an office space that you can pick up and move every five years; there are substantial technology investments required.”
The timing of the Elizabeth Quay project may also work against it, but Nine isn’t the first television station to dream of a CBD home.
Channel Seven is believed to have measured up the heritage buildings in what is now Brookfield Place as a possible location for its studio and offices.
Seven will complete its relocation to The West Australian’s offices by later this year, making way for a 100-lot residential subdivision on its studio site in Dianella. And Ten is expected to follow by early 2017 after finalising a sale and leaseback agreement this year, which runs until the end of 2016.
The Seven land has been rezoned for residential development and Satterley Property Group, which is driving the project expects strong interest in the plots, which are expected to sell for about $1,100/sqm.
