BHP Billiton's new world headquarters in Melbourne is at the centre of a workplace safety investigation only days before the Big Australian is due to move in. The controversy surrounds the issue of a certificate of occupancy for an office tower that BHP Billiton will anchor at the Queen Victoria development. The resources giant plans to move into its new 25,000 sqm office tower on Friday, but with the building still resembling a building site Worksafe Victoria is investigating whether it’s fit for occupation. “As of today (Tuesday), it’s very difficult to see anybody occupying offices by the weekend,’’ said one Worksafe inspector. “It’s certainly weeks – and possibly months – from completion.’’ Certificates of occupancy are usually issued weeks –and sometimes months — before tenants move in, but at QV joint developers Grocon and ING have been locked in a race against time to avoid a multi-million liability arising from a completion clause requiring it to pick up the tab if BHP was forced to sign a new lease to stay on at its existing offices at 600 Bourke Street. The completion clause involved a three-year lease extension, thereby exposing Grocon to a payout estimated to be as high as $60 million. Completion clauses are often used as a bargaining tool by tenants to hold developers to promised completion times and were common in the 1980s. At the Melbourne Docklands, the developers of a new office building at 700 Collins Street face a multi-million dollar payout after the Bureau of Meteorology was forced to sign a lease extension at the Macquarie-owned Celsius House building because the new Docklands building will not be ready in time. The four-month lease extension, for around 17,00sqm of space, was the equivalent of a year’s rent.
BHP Billiton's QV office cot-case
Leave a comment
