Hines, a global real estate investment, development and property manager, has announced the practical completion of the firm’s mass timber office building in Melbourne. The iconic timber building offers tenants an employee-centric workspace to help attract and retain talent, while supporting the demand for high-quality, green office buildings.

The firm’s T3 Collingwood is the tallest mass timber office building in Melbourne. Building with timber, as opposed to concrete and steel, results in significant savings in embodied carbon.

“We’re seeing a strong pivot towards ESG adherence, as well as towards core central locations, among today’s tenants — both are expected to underpin growth for the prime end of the office market in Australia,” Hines country head, Australia & New Zealand, David Warneford says.

“Demand is there, and we see good locations and premium green buildings leasing.”

Located at 36 Wellington Street in Collingwood, Melbourne, the 18,200m², 15-storey heavy timber office building adds to Hines’ global portfolio of 26 timber assets in various development stages across North America and Europe as of 2023.

“These ‘magnet buildings’ are sustainability-driven, well-located, technologically efficient and adjacent to transit. They’re more than just office buildings. They’re places for building culture, collaboration, and community.” David explains.

“Given the strength of our portfolio, continued momentum in return-to-work in our capital cities and the future supply dynamics of office, we’re optimistic about the office sector in Australia.”

T3 Collingwood is another milestone development in Hines’ extensive office portfolio, which includes iconic sites such as One Vanderbilt in New York, Salesforce Tower in Chicago, and One Museum Place in Shanghai. In Melbourne, Hines is also developing 600 Collins, the firm’s AU$1bn next-generation prime office tower in the heart of the city, which aims to set new benchmarks for tenant amenity, workplace and ESG.