Wellington, 15 June 2013 - The owners of Todd Tower have embarked upon a major refurbishment and upgrade of the building to bring it up to an acceptable standard following the lessons learnt as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes. Todd Tower has always been regarded as an A-grade, well located building, but the Landlord wanted to ensure that there were no reasons for the building not to be considered by relocating tenants. The decision to undertake these works has proven well conceived, as the Todd group has recommitted long term to the building and new tenants have just leased levels 6 and 7.
The owners recognised that whilst the building structure would meet the demands of tenants today, other non structural items required attention. A detailed seismic assessment by structural engineers Clendon, Park & Burns assessed the building’s seismic resisting (structural) frame at 75% of new building standard. This in itself is perfectly acceptable to tenants and consultants in the market today. However, the floor system throughout the building is of a Dycore construction, which it was determined could become an issue in a major seismic event. Simply put, the pre-cast floors are placed on a ledge forming a part of the structural beams running across and around each floor. In a major event there is a possibility that the floors could slip off these ledges. The fix undertaken in Todd Tower was to install steel rectangular sections on the beam at the end of each Dycore slab. This extends the ledge and makes the floor safe. In addition, bolts were affixed at the northern and southern ends of each floor to provide further support.
Completing these works has not increased the NBS rating of the building, but has enhanced the safety aspects of what already was a good quality modern CBD building.
Following these works, the Landlord created a show suite on level 7 that showcased a potential new ceiling and lighting grid, together with a fresh new carpet. This show suite has been utilised by the agents marketing the space to indicate to potential tenants how a completed floor could look.
David Fisher, Director Office Services for CBRE, comments that the unique mix of a part floor opened up to show tenants how the earthquake strengthening has been completed, and a part floor ‘finished’ as a show suite, has assisted inspecting tenants to understand the extent to which this landlord has gone to future-proof their building.
This was important to Assurity, who are moving from the Majestic Centre into level 7 as a result of growth in their business. Assurity were seeking a good A-grade property that would provide their staff with a pleasant working environment and certainty around safety and well-being in the workplace. After considering a number of alternatives, Assurity were happy to settle on The Todd Building and confirmed their contract on level 7 late in 2012.
The leasing to Assurity and the new tenant leaves two floors available, being level 3 of 660m² and level 4 of 852m². The floors are able to be split, offering up a variety of options. These floors will be refurbished in conjunction with tenants’ requirements. A design and project service is available through the landlord’s consultants Barry Smith Property Consultancy Limited. Principal Barry Smith comments that the leasing to Assurity was achieved through a consultative process involving the tenant throughout. Both David Fisher and Barry Smith report other ongoing leasing interest in the building.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2012 revenue). The Company has approximately 37,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
