480 Queen Street is home to BHP and PWC (Image: BVN Architecture)
Barings continues to be one of the busiest overseas investors in Australian real estate, with the US fund manager announcing late last week that it has agreed to purchase a Brisbane office tower for A$700 million ($491 million).
The unit of US finance giant Massmutual is buying 480 Queen Street, a 32-storey block in Brisbane’s central business district, from Dexus and its Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, in what is said to be the city’s largest office deal. The transaction follows Barings A$360 million purchase of a Sydney office tower in December, and major acquisitions of logistics, rental residential and self-storage in the past 13 months.
Barings’ leadership positioned the investment as an opportunity to buy an appealing property in a market on the upswing, pointing to positive economic conditions in the Queensland capital.
“We believe Brisbane currently offers some of the strongest office market fundamentals in Australia, supported by population growth, business investment, infrastructure spending and limited new supply,” said Shaun Hannah, executive director with Barings Real Estate Australia. “These dynamics continue to underpin rental growth and occupier demand for premium office space.”
Barings’ partner in the transaction has been among Australia’s most active sellers of 2026, with Dexus having disposed of a number of office properties this year as investors have driven the investment manager’s stock down by around 15 percent in the past year.
High End in Brisbane
Located within five minutes’ walk of local landmarks such as St Johns Cathedral and Customs House, 480 Queen Street is home to tenants including resource giant BHP, accounting giant PWC and international law firms DLA Piper, and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Shaun Hannah, executive director of Barings Real Estate Australia (Image: Barings)
Dexus is promoting mid-zone units in the 2016-vintage tower at A$1,100 per square metre per month, with tenants benefiting from high-end amenities such as concierge services, showers and changing rooms, and bicycle parking. Dexus and its Wholesale Property fund split ownership of the tower 50:50.
The 55,000 square metre (592,015 square foot) property was 89.7 percent occupied as of last month with a weighted average term to lease expiry of 3.8 years, according to Dexus statement. The sale price is equivalent to A$12,727 per square metre of net lettable area, with the building changing hands at around a 4 percent discount to its book value as of 31 December, per Dexus.
While the deal remains subject to approval by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), as well as other conditions, it is expected to close on 1 December. Dexus said it expects to receive around A$259 million of its share of the compensation on closing, with the remaining A$70 million deferred to 1 June 2028 at a 6.0 percent per annum coupon payable.
“This transaction is a further demonstration that we are executing on our strategy and will release capital to assist in funding higher returning initiatives,” Dexus CEO and managing director Ross Du Vernet said, while assuring investors that the company continues to hold other Brisbane commercial assets.
Disposal Streak
Dexus pointed out that proceeds from the sale would reduce its gearing by around 1 percentage point, with the company having stated a gearing level of around 34 percent at the end of 2025.
Since that time, with investors punishing its shares, Dexus has made a number of disposals, including announcing A$715 million in deals earlier last week to sell office assets in Brisbane and Sydney to entities linked to US fund manager BGO.
In that pair of transactions, the ASX-listed company agreed to sell 30-34 Hickson Road and 36 Hickson Road in Sydney to a BGO tieup with local player Cliffbrook Capital, and is disposing of 123 Albert Street in Brisbane to BGO and Investa.
Those transactions also provided for the buyers to defer payment on portions of the compensation.
In February of this year, Dexus sold 100 Mount Street, an office building in North Sydney to BGO for A$558 million, and in June sold a Brisbane industrial estate to logistics specialist Corval for A$41 million.
Barings Backs Australia
Before making its Brisbane office buy, Baring’s had picked up Darling Square, a 27,750 square metre office building on Sydney’s Tumbalong Boulevard, for A$360 million in early December last year.
Later that same month it agreed to purchase the Smithfield Industrial Estate in Sydney from Goodman Group for A$75 million. In July of 2025 Barings acquired a majority stake in Australian self-storage operator Swift for A$200 million.
In February of this year, a Barings joint venture with Aussie pension fund manager Aware Super signed a deal to buy a rental residential project in Brisbane for A$285 million, and in June the US company led a consortium committing to buy Melbourne’s Moorabbin Airport from Goodman Group for A$1.5 billion.