Sydney is in for another round of musical chairs with severaloffice leases set to be signed in coming weeks throughout the city.
One is said to be by the retail bank ING Direct, which is looking to move from its digs at 140 Sussex Street. The space requirement is up to 12,000 square metres.
It was speculated that one site, among others being looked at, is 60 Margaret Street. Mirvac, the owner of the property, and ING Direct declined to comment on the speculation.
But agents said any move by tenants into the area around Wynyard will be a brave call, given its about to become the city's next construction zone, with the redevelopment at One Carrington Street, the nearby Wynyard train station and the George Street light rail project.
There is also the Wynyard Walk zone to connect to Barangaroo South.
The potential moves also come as the landlords at Darling Park have leased extra space to the current tenant, Commonwealth Bank. The bank is also looking for an additional 15,000 square metres of space near its Darling Park and Darling Quarter headoffice and is said to be one of the parties looking at the nearby proposed Grocon/UBS Ribbon site.
Map: 140 Sussex Street and 60 Margaret Street Sydney
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The Pricewaterhousecoopers space, at Darling Park, when it moves to Barangaroo South, has been leased to Insurance Australia Group (IAG).
The IAG move out of 388 George Street has ignited speculation that it will be the next major building in the city's core that will undergo a revamp, including adding retail space on the expansive concrete forecourt on the corner of King and George streets.
In other leasing moves, multinational tech giant Google was said to be one possible anchor tenant for One Carrington Street, as more IT companies look for more-traditional city-based locations. However, it is also looking at White Bay in the Bays precinct, where Google can work with UrbanGrowth on all stages of the design and construction as it has done in other countries.
The leasing deals come as the core Asia Pacific office markets have seen a rise in demand for space of more than 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, with the insurance sector being a stand-out performer, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the major leases inked, with the bulk of the leases signed evident of a flight-to-quality trend, Cushman & Wakefield Australia national research manager Dr Alex Pham says.
"The improvement in demand for office space thus far in 2015 has been driven by the financial and business service sectors, supported by accommodative economic policies," Dr Pham said.
"Looking forward, with interest rates remaining at record lows and the government recently committing to a $5.5 billion stimulus program for small businesses, we expect leasing conditions to improve over the remainder of the year."
From the tenant perspective, organisations with a clear idea of their future accommodation requirements are encouraged to take advantage of the attractive incentives now on offer because these could evaporate on the back of strengthening demand.
