Charter Hall’s office fund holds $340m at first close

Charter Hall Prime Office Fund has raised A$340 million ($259 million) for a first close.

The fund has an A$500 million ($380 million) fundraising target. Final close is expected in the first quarter of 2018.

The equity raising, has further enhanced CPOF’s balance sheet, and will enable it to fund CPOF’s active development pipeline of $1.5 billion predominantly located within the eastern seaboard CBD office markets.

CPOF is a wholesale-pooled fund that provides investors with exposure to high-quality office buildings located in Australia’s major capital cities.

Its A$3.5 billion ($2.7 billion) office portfolio consists of 21 properties with an occupancy level of 98 percent. Office properties include core and enhanced investment-grade properties such as Brisbane Square in Brisbane and 11 Exhibition Street in Melbourne.

The fund provided investors with a 19.2 per cent return in fiscal year 2017, and has been the top performing multi-asset fund in the MSCI/IPD Australia Wholesale Property Funds Index across the office sector over the past one, two and three year periods to September 2017 and was the best performing multi-asset fund in the index over the last 12 months across all sectors.