Cromwell in timely sell-off Cromwell Property Group will sell office assets in Sydney and Melbourne at a time when demand for city properties is rising. Nearly $2 billion of office assets is being prepared for sale around the country as owners look to reinvest in new developments. The sell-off includes a $1.5 billion asset portfolio held by US giant GE Capital and eight state government-owned properties valued at $300 million. The plan by Canadian-based Brookfield to create a $900 million property trust via a public float will also add to the mix of activity in the Sydney and Melbourne office sectors. Brookfield owns Multiplex, and some of its local assets could be included in the float. Cromwell has appointed CBRE and Colliers International to jointly sell its properties via individual campaigns. On offer is Cromwell's twin-tower property at 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, and the A-grade 380 La Trobe Street building in Melbourne. The Sydney campaign will be steered by CBRE's Scott Gray-Spencer and Tim Grosmann in conjunction with Colliers International. The Chatswood property has towers with 11,900 square metres and 11,750 square metres along with a retail podium of 834 square metres plus basement parking for 398 cars. CBRE executive managing director Gray-Spencer said the quality of the asset, the premium tenancy profile and the future value-add potential would help underpin buyer interest. "The complex is fully leased to major tenants such as Reed Elsevier, Leighton Contractors and Evans & Peck, providing a strong income stream," Mr Gray-Spencer said. There is also potential to subdivide the towers and the retail podium under an existing strata approval that could allow for a possible residential conversion of the office towers in the future, subject to the relevant council planning approvals. Colliers national director Jon Chomley said 475 Victoria Avenue offered investors the opportunity to purchase an office asset at below replacement cost and with "significant value-add opportunities." In a separate campaign, CBRE's Mark Coster and Mark Granter will steer the marketing of 380 La Trobe Street in tandem with Nick Rathgeber and Leigh Melbourne of Colliers International. Coster, CBRE's senior director, institutional investments, said the building was one of the most recently constructed in the traditional CBD grid and had 21,980 square metres of net lettable area and 262 car-parking bays. The property is fully leased to a mix of high-quality international and national tenants, including global agricultural company Agrium, life insurer TAL and Victoria Legal Aid. With a substantial site area of 2899 square metres and dual street frontage (on La Trobe and Queen streets), the property also offers development potential, subject to relevant planning approvals.