2021-10-18 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 18 OCTOBER 2021


10   PROPOSED LEASE TENANCY FOR PEREGIAN DIGITAL HUB

Author            Acting Director Environment and Sustainable Development, Anthony Dow
                  Environment and Sustainable Development Department

Index             ECM/ Subject/ 45.04 Economic Development

Attachments       1.    Leasing Overview and Recommendations 2021


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Acting Director Environment and Sustainable Development to
the General Committee Meeting dated 18 October 2021 regarding the commercial lease of office
space at the Peregian Digital Hub and:
A.   Agree to enter a commercial lease of the Unit 4 premises of 45m2 to Anson McCade Pty Ltd.
     for a three year term, as generally outlined in the report;
B.   Agree to enter a commercial lease of the Unit 3a premises of 45m2 to Saturate for a three year
     term, as generally outlined in the report;
C.   Note that a market process will continue in order to secure a tenant for Unit 3b;
D.   Authorise the CEO to award one subsequent lease extension of 3 years for each of these
     tenancies, subject to the lessee complying with the terms of the lease.


REPORT
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to enter into new leases for commercial office
space, upstairs at the Peregian Digital Hub.

Unit 4 has become available due to a ‘break-lease’ situation. Former tenant, Fireball International,
indicated in June that due to the growth of their business they were expanding into larger premises
of their own and would need to terminate their lease. Council understands that Fireball International,
now rebranded as Exci, have secured a larger space on the Sunshine Coast.

Unit 3 has become available due to the 3-year lease with Atmail Pty Ltd coming to an end in July
and their decision not to exercise an extension option due to them adopting a remote workforce
model.

The COVID pandemic has driven major changes in the digital sector’s demand for commercial office
spaces, driven by increased adoption of work-from-home policies and the normalisation of remote
collaboration. The Unit 3 space, previously tenanted by Atmail, is 104m2 in size and designed to suit
an in-person operation of 15-20 staff. The market process undertaken to re-let this space has
indicated low demand in the digital sector for this configuration and that Council would better serve
the industry’s needs and generate a more sustainable return by subdividing the Unit 3 space into
two units (Units 3a and 3b) of approximately 45m2 each.

Sourcing and evaluation of prospective tenants for the available units has been undertaken by
Colliers, Council’s contracted provider of Property Management Services, in accordance with the



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