Inpex to have name up in lights under new lease deal

Oil and gas giant Inpex will hang its logo 24 storeys above the Perth CBD, after confirming it will stay put at 100 St Georges Terrace, one of two new leases covering 20,000 square metres in the ISPT-owned building.

The deal ends more than a year of speculation that the Japan-based oil and gas producer was hunting for a new home, with the ambition of having its name up in lights above the terrace.

The deal was brokered jointly by Sheffield Property Group's Digby Sutherland and Mark Clapham, who said the new lease would allow Inpex to modify its operations to cater for the transition from construction to production at its Icthys LNG project in Darwin.

Inpex had been considered as one of the last potential large-space eaters that would underpin a significant new commercial development in the CBD, while midway through last year, rumours swirled through Perth that the company was keen to take up 16,000sqm of sub-lease space from BHP Billiton at Brookfield Place, a deal that never came to fruition.

Sheffield Property also brokered a deal for Quadrant Energy to renew its lease at 100 St Georges Terrace, with the oil and gas player to remain at its 7,000sqm tenancy for the next 12 years.

Mr Sutherland said a market search included new development options for both companies, however, ISPT’s commitment to upgrade the building’s lobby, end-of-trip and office floors made staying at 100 St Georges Terrace an attractive option for both Inpex and Quadrant.

“Our challenge was to prepare a detailed technical review of the building and compared its credentials against those for new office developments to ensure our building upgrade recommendations to ISPT met the needs of both Inpex and Quadrant, but also positioned the building as one of Perth’s best buildings for the future,” he said.

Mr Clapham said the detailed analysis of each tenant’s workplace and technical requirements, as well as what services were on offer, allowed both Inpex and Quadrant to drive down long-term office accommodation costs, by fully utilising base building services.