Aware Super buys The Barracks in Brisbane — $150m urban play

Aware Super has exchanged contracts to acquire a landmark mixed‑use precinct on the edge of Brisbane’s CBD (Australia), agreeing to a deal of about A$150m (US$98m) to buy The Barracks at 61 Petrie Terrace. The asset spans an historic 1.09‑hectare site and combines heritage fabric with modern commercial and leisure offering.

The complex comprises five buildings with a total of 19,433 sqm of net lettable area — roughly 10,393 sqm of offices and 9,040 sqm of retail and leisure space — and parking for 451 cars. Current occupancy sits close to 97%, giving the buyer immediate cashflow alongside opportunities to re‑position parts of the precinct.

Aware Real Estate’s team has flagged a value‑add plan focused on activating food & beverage, refreshing retail tenancies, targeted upgrades to office components and enhanced precinct placemaking. Pete Carstairs, head of investments and capital transactions, described the purchase as a platform for leasing-led value creation supported by a meaningful capital expenditure budget.

The Barracks mixes three heritage‑listed structures with an A‑grade office tower and a retail hub anchored by a supermarket and a cinema operator. The asset also carries strong energy credentials — a 6‑Star NABERS Energy and 6‑Star NABERS Water rating across office buildings, plus a 335 kW rooftop solar array — features that underpin operating efficiency and tenant appeal.

This transaction follows Aware Real Estate’s earlier Queensland buy: the $215.5m acquisition of 145 Ann Street last year. Executives point to structural drivers in Brisbane — limited office vacancy, growing residential supply nearby and the long‑run uplift tied to major events — as reasons to back mixed‑use assets in the city now.

Looking ahead, management will prioritise leasing and capital works before a formal relaunch of the precinct; the outcome will be watched closely by investors tracking Brisbane’s expanding development pipeline and the city’s office market tightness ahead of the decade’s major events.