SHORTLY after she co-founded real estate investment firm TE Capital in 2019, Emilia Teo found herself negotiating the firm’s first deal at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Teo was eyeing 350 Queen Street, a freehold office building in Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD), even as Australia was about to impose stay-at-home restrictions as the number of infections soared. 

“There was uncertainty around how long the pandemic would last and impact office leasing demand,” says Teo. “We had to get comfort around what was the potential vacancy we may have. We took a position that we had to have a buffer by way of a price discount.”