Soon-to-float technology company Firmus will make a newly-opened building in Melbourne’s east end its headquarters in the city.
Firmus, led by co-founders Tim Rosenfield and Oliver Curtis, already has offices in Sydney and Singapore, as well as in St Leonards, Tasmania. It has now agreed to go into the GPT Group’s newly-opened 51 Flinders Lane office development in Melbourne’s CBD.
Firmus will take a whole floor on Level 14, establishing its Melbourne presence, as it scouts out opportunities and customers in Victoria. It is already active in Tasmania and SA where it has artificial intelligence factories and data centres.
The AI infrastructure company is focused on its planned float next month after securing brokers as it bets that investors will back its vision of becoming a major player with a mooted $15bn market value.
Firmus chief people officer Nicole Reid called out the city’s importance.
“Melbourne is an important market for Firmus as we continue to expand our AI infrastructure across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Establishing a presence at 51 Flinders Ln provides our team with a highly connected base in the centre of Melbourne, supporting collaboration, access to talent and closer engagement with customers and partners,” she said.
The company will join hyperscale data centre specialist AirTrunk, which is also setting up its first Melbourne office in the complex owned by GPT’s unlisted office fund.
Along with Firmus, the developer has also won out-of-home media company JCDecaux for the project. JCDecaux is shifting from the beaten down St Kilda Road precinct to a whole floor on Level 9, committing to a 10-year lease. Other tenants include WPP, FM and Koda Capital.
GPT said the tenant mix across AI, cloud and digital infrastructure, out-of-home media, professional services and financial services – reflected the precinct’s emergence as new economy destination.
GPT head of office Matthew Brown said the calibre of occupiers choosing the precinct reflected the East End’s evolution as a commercial destination. “From AI and digital infrastructure businesses through to global media and professional services firms, the companies choosing 51 Flinders Ln are helping shape Melbourne’s next phase of economic growth,” he said.
51 Flinders Ln comprises a 14-level North Tower and 39-level South Tower, spanning about 27,500sq m of A-Grade office space alongside hospitality outlets. They open this year, anchored by chef Alejandro Saravia’s flagship venue, Masia.
The GPT fund that owns the Melbourne building has also quietly agreed to re-sign tech giant Google at its main Sydney office in Pyrmont. The move effectively dashes hopes that the tech giant could anchor a new city development.
Google will strike a long-term lease with GPT for five office floors – about 16,000sq m – at the Workspace6 building on Pirrama Road. It is now tipped to take this building back to market, with the benefit of a long lease in place.
Google also occupies Mirvac’s 22,000sq m One Darling Island Road building after taking over the space once leased to Fairfax Media and is believed to have extended in that complex as well.
Google also owns two heritage-listed former navy warehouses on Pirrama Road it bought from developer Aqualand for $170m in 2018.
The companies declined to comment.
Read related topics:Artificial IntelligenceData Centres
Ben WilmotCommercial Property Editor