Case studies
Real Assets
Transformation of a city icon
Together with our capital partner Dexus Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF), we are reimagining a central city destination, 25 Martin Place, through the creation of a vibrant cultural, retail, and dining precinct.
25 Martin Place builds on iconic architect Harry Seidler’s vision to create a dynamic city within a city, from the outdoor plaza to the sculpture courtyard, terraces and laneways, the precinct’s integrated spaces create a generous public space for all to socialise and connect.
In December 2022, the renowned Theatre Royal was re-opened, after undergoing refurbishment, bringing theatre, performances and creativity once again to the heart of the city. Alongside the modernised Theatre Royal, the NSW Governance has signed a 55-year lease enabling the Theatre to once again house world class productions from Australia and around the world from musicals, plays, dance and live music.
A highlight of 25 Martin Place is the new restaurant and bar al fresco precinct, along with the world-renowned luxury fashion houses that will join a line-up of premium and contemporary boutiques to reinforce Castlereagh Street as a premium luxury retail destination.
This transformation will continue the legacy of 25 Martin Place in the heart of the Sydney CBD and contribute to the city’s day and night-time economy, generating more than 300 new retail, hospitality and theatre jobs, ensuring the precinct continues to contribute to the CBD for years to come.
Our workplace “unlocking potential to create tomorrow”
Workplaces play an essential role in building collaboration, culture and innovation. In mid-2023, Dexus relocated our Sydney Head Office to the internationally renowned Quay Quarter Tower (QQT). QQT is a Dexus-managed building, with Dexus Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) holding an ownership interest.
QQT was originally built as the AMP Centre in the 1970s, with a vision to transform the traditional office space to be the centrepiece of a thriving cultural precinct on the buzzing foreshore of Sydney Harbour.
AMP Capital’s real estate and domestic infrastructure business was acquired by Dexus during the financial year, with first completion of the transaction occurring in March 2023. The transaction saw our Sydney workforce co-locating to QQT.
The Premium-Grade office building places customer experience, sustainability and smart technology at the centre of its design to deliver a world-first vertical village that redefines the future of work. QQT offers some of the city’s best views reflecting the building’s focus on promoting human interactions and smart technologies to drive business success.
In April 2023, QQT welcomed Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary and Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Dan Jorgensen, as part of Her Royal Highness’ Sustainability and Green Energy Tour to highlight the everchanging impact of climate change.
Developed by AMP Capital with builder Multiplex, QQT was awarded a 6-Star Green Star As Built v3 Rating by the Green Building Council of Australia, recognising the building as world leading. The Green Star Rating adds to the other prestigious awards the tower has achieved, including the World Building of the Year 2022 and the International High-Rise Award 2022.
Placing sustainability and the customer experience at the centre of its development, the lessons learnt from the design and construction of QQT will be shared with projects globally, including our current development at Atlassian Central.
Pushing the boundaries with Atlassian
Atlassian Central is a world-leading project that will be a catalyst for change, setting new standards in sustainability and innovation for office buildings globally.
Dexus is a co-investor and the developer of Atlassian Central, the new Sydney headquarters of the leading global tech firm. Together with the adjoining Central Place Sydney, Atlassian Central will anchor the government-backed Technology Central, a global innovation and collaboration precinct.
In August 2022, Dexus commenced construction on Atlassian Central, a 39 level Premium-Grade office tower incorporating a new hotel owned by Youth Hostels Australia (YHA) at its base. The building will offer an activated retail destination with an integrated public domain and enhanced accessibility connecting to Central Station.
Atlassian Central is leading the way in low carbon construction and sustainability initiatives that will minimise the impact on the environment and deliver high occupant comfort and low energy consumption. These include a 50% reduction in embodied carbon in construction, by using timber, green steel and green concrete, and being powered by 100% renewable energy from day one of operation. The building is targeting a 6 Star Green Star As Built and a 5.5 Star NABERS Commitment Agreement.
The innovation and insights from the design and construction of Atlassian Central will be shared with projects internationally.
People and Capabilities
Supporting our LGBTQ+ community
Now in its fourth year, our employee community promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion and psychological safety in the workplace continues to foster allies.
The TRIBE network’s key focus in FY23 was gender neutral bathrooms, with TRIBE advising future project teams about the importance of considering gender neutral bathrooms. Dexus continues to work with project directors and customers to include gender neutral bathrooms at the concept design level of our developments.
Pride in Diversity Australia
We are proud to have been recognised once again as a Bronze Employer by Pride in Diversity's Australian Workplace Equality Index in July 2023. Pride in Diversity’s Workplace Equality Index is the definitive national benchmark for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.
Wear It Purple
TRIBE hosted its annual event with Wear It Purple in August 2022. We were joined by Wear It Purple President, Lara Husselbee, who shared her story on the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in workplaces. These events allow our people to come together and show support for the LGBTQ+ community while also providing the opportunity for us to learn from our own employees’ lived experiences.
Sydney WorldPride 2023
Sydney WorldPride 2023 provided the platform for us to participate alongside industry peers in supporting the LGBTQ+ community on the global stage through numerous activations around the Sydney CBD.
Dexus buildings, including Quay Quarter Tower, 25 Martin Place and 1 Bligh Street, joined the Property Council of Australia and BuildingPride initiative where its members’ buildings were lit up to display a rainbow of lights across the city’s skyline.
Also in partnership with BuildingPride, we also attended local rainbow events, Fair Day in Sydney and Midsumma in Melbourne, in the lead up to WorldPride 2023. And at Gateway Sydney, we partnered with the City of Sydney to host the ‘Big Gay Breakfast’, a family-friendly event that provided a range of food and activities for kids.
Our TRIBE network will continue to be a force for inclusion in the property sector in FY24.
Supporting future female leaders in Property
We know that diversity promotes better decision making, and in FY23 we continued to seek out opportunities to improve gender diversity in the property sector.
Continuing our industry partnership with the Property Council of Australia on the Girls in Property Program, we worked to raise awareness among high school students about the possibility of a career in property.
In June 2023, two members of our Industrial Asset Management team volunteered to mentor a group of female high-school students from Auburn Girls High School. The students worked on a real-life scenario, presenting a case study that provided a solution for an online retailers’ warehousing requirements in the Sydney industrial market.
Alongside our participation in the Girls in Property Program, we launched the next module of our businesses program, Female Leaders in Property (FLIP), to support the next generation of female leaders.
In September 2022, high-school students from Lourdes Hill College and Somerville House were hosted by our Waterfront Brisbane project team as part of the FLIP program. Dexus female leaders took part in a panel discussion to educate the students about our city-shaping developments and to empower them to consider building a career in property.
In November 2022, a team of female employees associated with 25 Martin Place, Sydney, hosted high-school students from Monte Saint Angelo Mercy College on a precinct tour and discussed each of their career paths and experiences working in the property industry.
We are proud of the role we continue to play in generating a more diverse pipeline of talent by encouraging females to consider a career in property.
Progressing reconciliation
During FY23, we continued our work towards reconciliation and engagement with key days of significance, including National Sorry Day, National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week and National Reconciliation Week (NRW).
These days provide an opportunity for our people and customers to engage with initiatives and activations that support learning and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ culture and history and to appreciate the importance of reconciliation.
For NRW, we provided our employees with a list of engagement resources to further enhance their understanding of the part we can all play in supporting and progressing reconciliation. These included resources to listen, watch, learn, along with state-based activities that were held throughout the week.
For NAIDOC Week, we held a Lived Experience Lunch and Learn for our office customers in Sydney. The event was held in partnership with our community partner, Black Dog Institute, with special guest Andrew Bacon, a Yamatji Man from the Murchison Gascoyne Region in Western Australia. Andrew gave insights on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ understanding and experience of mental wellbeing and shared his own mental health journey.
Throughout NRW and NAIDOC Week, our Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation Share-A-Book Campaign collected books from customers in buildings across our portfolio which were donated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to support their learning of language and communications skills.
NAIDOC Week at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Queensland
Indooroopilly Shopping Centre celebrated NAIDOC Week this year collaborating with a local artist, Matt Robert. The artist was commissioned to create an artwork for the centre’s hoarding decal to communicate the story of the local area to centre visitors.
The artwork, Ngalin Ayeye (Our Yarn), included images of the lands on which the centre is located and the connection these lands and surrounding areas have to the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
Customers and Communities
The Central Project housing initiative for at-risk youth and refugees
A partnership with My Foundations Youth Housing (MFYH) is providing short-term accommodation for at-risk youth and refugees at the former Adina Apartment Hotel. The project acts as a critical stopgap to provide residents with safe, secure and affordable housing.
The Central Project housing initiative is being undertaken by Dexus, Atlassian and TOGA Group. The project is located alongside the site for Atlassian Central which is co-owned by dexus and Atlassian and being developed by Dexus. Along with Central Place Sydney, Atlassian and TOGA Group’s building will bookend the northern end of Sydney’s new technology and innovation precinct, Tech Central.
In early 2023, part of the former Adina Apartment Hotel was converted into interim housing solution for The Central Project, while the project’s Development Approval is being assessed.
Supporting this initiative, social initiative Thread Together has been provided with retail space to provide the residents with brand new clothing.
Rebecca Mullins, CEO, MFYH, said the project showcases the impact of collaboration between corporate partners and charitable bodies.
“MFYH believes all young people should have a safe, supportive and affordable home, and this project offers accommodation smack bang in Central Sydney for people in need, with transport connections and job opportunities on their doorstep.”
Gateway Sydney flutters for Vivid Sydney
Sydney’s annual Vivid festival transforms the CBD’s iconic spaces with light installations, music and ideas. This year, the Gateway Sydney dining precinct at Circular Quay was morphed into an enchanting butterfly wonderland.
In collaboration with a local design studio, Gateway Sydney hosted a school program, The Science of Colour and Light, where Year 4 students learnt about how structures in nature alter light to create colour. The students created a unique butterfly installation named “Flutter” that went on display for the duration of the Vivid festival. Dexus supplied over 250 recycled butterfly kits to deliver this program.
We are proud to have once again been involved in Vivid Sydney, celebrating the vibrancy of leading destinations like Gateway Sydney and enhancing communities through the enduring relationships we have with our customers and communities.
Social impact amplified through community partnerships
Dexus’s capacity to create value is influenced by the strength of its relationships with the communities in which it operates. During FY23, we contributed over $630,000 financially and in-kind to communities across the country through the following initiatives.
Day One Charity Drive
First completion of the AMP Capital transaction enabled the transition of the AMP Capital employees to Dexus. To celebrate the two groups coming together, we invited our people to participate in a Day One Charity Drive. Employees were invited to select one of four charities, Black Dog Institute, Planet Ark, Eat Up Australia and Yellow Brick Road. Dexus donated $10 for every selection made, raising more than $5,000 across the four community partners.
Volunteering Day
Dexus encourages its employees to connect with and support community causes through an annual Volunteering Day, where all employees are allocated one day of paid volunteering leave per year to use supporting a charity of their choice.
In FY23, this initiative has seen the Funds Management team volunteer at Ronald McDonald House, the Corporate Affairs and Communications team volunteer at Thread Together, and employees participate in the Balmoral Swim and STEPtember. Dexus employees and customer teams also pitched in to make sandwiches for Eat Up Australia across many of our office locations.
The Property Industry Foundation (PIF) brings together the property and construction industry in a unique collaboration to have a tangible impact on youth homelessness. In September 2022, Executive General Manager, Funds Management, Deborah Coakley embarked on the PIF Walk Against Homelessness. Deborah joined a passionate group of industry leaders who walked the two-day Scenic Rim Trail in South-East Queensland’s Main Range National Park, raising funds for the charity that supports many young people who are deprived of a safe and secure place to sleep each night across Australia.
Community partner activations for our customers
Dexus partners with community groups that align with its values, creating experiences for customers to educate and raise funds to address social causes. Year-on-year this includes activations for Daffodil Day for Cancer Council Australia at Rialto in Melbourne and supporting Earth Hour and International Women’s Day. For International Women’s Day this year, we hosted an afternoon of conversation with celebrated Australian journalists, Leigh Sales and Annabel Crab, for our customers based in Sydney.
Environment
QV Melbourne partnership promotes circular economy outcomes
A trial project to tackle organic waste at QV Melbourne has demonstrated the possibilities for circular waste outcomes.
A grant from Sustainability Victoria enabled QV Melbourne to conduct a waste audit of the iconic shopping centre and office tower located in the centre of Melbourne’s CBD. The aim of the audit was to identify where the building could make the most positive impact using circular economy principles to deal with organic waste.
Once the audit was completed, QV Melbourne engaged a circular economy consultant to conduct a trial of a new waste management solution which involved collecting and feeding the centre’s waste to Black Soldier fly larvae.
Over a week, the larvae grew to 3,000 times its size by eating the waste and producing 1.5 times their weight in manure. These two materials were then separated, with the larvae being processed to create high quality protein for animal feed and the manure being returned to QV Melbourne to be used as fertiliser.
The success of this trial demonstrates how waste processing systems are more cost effective and sustainable than traditional composting facilities and landfill. QV Melbourne has reached higher outcomes of waste recovery, by transforming the precinct’s food waste into animal feed and fertiliser that reduces the environmental impact of the wider food system.
Our transition to renewable energy
Dexus achieved net zero emissions across its managed portfolio in 2022. As the AMP Capital assets are integrated into the Dexus platform, we are implementing initiatives across the expanded portfolio to continue the net zero journey for the building operations of the assets we manage across our group property portfolio.
These initiatives include supporting customers through renewable energy supply, including onsite renewable energy installations at our industrial estates and sourcing innovative ways to generate renewable energy offsite.
Solar powered industrial facilities
Throughout FY23, we continued to roll out on-site photovoltaics (PV) across our industrial portfolio. Approximately 4.2 megawatts of solar array has been installed at Horizon 3023 industrial estate in Ravenhall, Victoria. Nike, Lululemon, Mitre 10, Myer, Elders, Amazon, Hello Fresh and Electrolux have all installed solar panels on their roofs to capture renewable energy to power their operations.
We continue to partner with our customers to deliver developments embedded with strong sustainability practices that provide long-term value and help support our customers on their own sustainability journey.
GreenPower Buyers Group
Dexus has created a GreenPower Buyers Group (GPBG) for like-minded customers to collectively purchase renewable electricity for their premises, supporting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals.
GPBG aims to support customers within our assets to overcome the challenges of souring renewable electricity for their tenancy by collaborating to make the process simple and easy and to save costs.
GPBG is an independent government accredited scheme and is recognised as the standard for offsite renewables in Australia. Since inception in 2021, the members have collectively purchased over 1,600 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity, avoiding over 1,000 tonnes of GHG emissions.
Supporting our customers in choosing GreenPower helps to drive renewable energy investment to reach beyond mandatory government requirements, creates jobs in the renewable energy sector and supports local suppliers who provide services to accredited renewable generators.