Ivanhoé Cambridge has made its first direct purchase in Australia’s office market with a 25 per cent interest in Sydney’s Liberty Place.

The core office tower complex rises 42 storeys on 161 Castlereagh in the heart of Sydney’s midtown. The property is 97 per cent leased and comprised of 47, 630 square feet of retail and 647,729 square feet of office space.

Blackstone Property Partners Asia partnered on the purchase from Lasalle Investment Management, for a total investment of AU$240 million.

“Blackstone’s strong knowledge of the Australian market and its established presence in Australia have been key to the success of this transaction, said Rita-Rose Gagné, executive vice-president of growth markets for Ivanhoé Cambridge.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge foresees further investments in Australia and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region in 2015.

Christopher Heady, senior managing director and head of real estate Asia at Blackstone, said the investment is the company’s first in Asia as part of Blackstone Property Partners’ Core+ strategy and that Liberty Place fit the “Core+ strategy extremely well as a high quality, well-leased asset in a global gateway city.”