Emirates House under $14.7m contract to Charter Hall

Coming off the back of a record breaking year of office sales, 2006 is off to a flying start, with Emirates House understood to be under contract for $14.7 million to listed Sydney funds manager and developer Charter Hall Ltd.
The sale is expected to become unconditional later this month, and the vendor is Cape Bouvard Investments Pty Ltd, which bought the development site for $2 million in 1997 and built a $7 million, seven storey office building on the site in 2001.
Earlier this year, Cape Bouvard's executive deputy chairman Peter Sarich told WA Business News that the company was focussing on several major developments in Queensland over the next few years and that it was the company's strategy to buy assets when markets were low and sell the assets when the market picked up.
Late last year, Cape Bouvard also conducted WA's second biggest office sale, with Wesfarmers House at 40 The Esplanade selling for $47.5 million to Melbourne-based fund manager, SAITeysMcMahon.
Cape Bouvard bought the property for $36 million in 2001, with the sale delivering a $11.6 million capital gain.
The sale also achieved the highest price per square metre of any office sale in the last year, netting $4,095/sq m.
Last year Cape Bouvard also secured Alinta as a whole of building tenant on its Allendale II development, to be completed early this year.
Cape Bouvard commenced construction on the $15 million, seven-level office building when Perth's office vacancy rates were high and analysts were predicting a gloomy future.
However, a rapid market turnaround has worked in Cape Bouvard's favour and the Allendale II building is likely to be the only substantial new office space that hits the market for several years.
Cape Bouvard's other city assets include Allendale Square, Wellington Fair, and a 3,000sqm development site on Mounts Bay Road (opposite the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre).