US-based oil company ExxonMobil is believed to be close to signing a lease for up to 8000 square metres in Mirvac's new Docklands office building at 664 Collins Street.
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Construction is under way at the $214 million nine-level development that is next to Southern Cross station and expected to be completed in 2018.
The 26,000-square-metre building has large 3000-square-metre floor plates looking out over the distinctive curved roof of the station to the east and Docklands to the west. It is behind Mirvac's 699 Bourke Street, which is fully occupied by AGL Energy.
Accounting firm Pitcher Partners has signed on as anchor tenant to occupy one-third of 664 Collins Street, shifting from space in 15 William Street.
A spokesman for ExxonMobil said it was exploring its options and had made no decision.
The Batmans Hill slope on Collins Street is shaping up as a busy corporate precinct dominated by Lang Walker's $2.5 billion Collins Square. KPMG and BDO are heading for a new tower Collins Square where Marsh Mercer, CBA, the ATO, Maddocks, Link Group and Transurban are already tenants.
Next door, Melbourne Quarter is among the six shortlisted sites under consideration by the National Australia Bank for a new flagship office, along with Brookfield's 405 Bourke Street.
NAB's lease in the ISPT-owned building at 500 Bourke Street expires in 2020 and the bank is understood to be in the market for alternative digs.
The bank needs between 40,000 to 65,000 square metres, a sizeable requirement that will firmly anchor a new Melbourne office complex.
A NAB spokesman said: "No decisions have been made. We continually review our property and workplace requirements to ensure we provide the best environments for our customers and people."
Ground work has started on the $2 billion Melbourne Quarter, which will include seven office and apartment towers. While only Lendlease and engineering firm Arup have signed up for the first 26,400-square-metre tower, the precinct is often mentioned in the new round of leasing speculation.
Two of the biggest towers earmarked for Melbourne's Collins Street skyline are deep in the Hoddle grid. Lawyers King & Wood Mallesons will anchor CBUS' "pantscraper" tower at 447 Collins Street and accountancy firm Deloitte hascommitted to 22,000 square metres at Mirvac's $500 million tower behind the Olderfleet buildings at 477 Collins Street.
Mirvac is working its Melbourne portfolio hard. It has engaged architects Six Degrees to revamp its retail precinct at Southbank on the river where it owns four buildings.
The newest of the buildings is 2 Riverside Quay, a redeveloped tower above an existing car park, which was designed by Fender Katsalidis and will be anchored by PwC.
An installation by local Melbourne artist Britt Salt will wrap around the eight-storey carpark. The work, one of the largest public art works in the southern hemisphere, is under construction and expected to be finished in December.
Mirvac also had a tilt at buying ExxonMobil's Southbank headquarters, which would have cemented its control over the precinct.
The 14-storey building at 12 Riverside Quay sold recently for around $165 million to an offshore investor. Built in 1995, the 22,000-square-metre building was one of the first office buildings in the Southbank precinct and kickstarted its development.