BANKWEST is looking for a new sub-tenant for the top three floors of city office tower, Raine Square, with international gold miner Barrick Gold understood to have cancelled its sub-lease agreement to take up the space.
Savills director of office leasing Graham Postma told WA Business News Savills was currently marketing three floors of Raine Square for Bankwest, but would not confirm or deny it was the space that was to be sub-let by Barrick Gold.
Raine Square developer Saracen Properties agreed to lease the entire 42,500 square metre building to Bankwest on a 12-year lease in October 2006, with two options for three additional years once the original lease term is up, upon completion of the tower.
In May this year, Barrick Gold pre-committed to sub-let from Bankwest three floors, or 4,500sqm, of Raine Square space surplus to Bankwest’s requirements, at a rent of $675 per square metre.
It is understood that when Bankwest struck its pre-commitment agreement with Saracen Properties, the agreed lease was about $395/sqm.
The bank intends to relocate its entire CBD staff from the Bankwest Tower on St Georges Terrace to Raine Square.
The cancelled leasing deal is the latest in what has become somewhat of a saga at Raine Square, the construction of which has been plagued by delays after a spat between the project’s original builder, Salta Constructions, and Saracen Properties.
Court action between the two firms is ongoing after Salta cancelled its lead builder’s contract over a dispute relating to cost variations to the original deal.
Negotiations between Saracen and Raine Square’s new builder, Probuild, were completed in August for the remaining $80 million worth of construction for the $550 million tower.
Work on the 21-storey tower recommenced last month after it had been stalled since February.
Saracen Properties expects the tower to be complete by June next year.
