The owner of Sydney's more than century old General Post Office building, Charter Hall Group, is planning to purchase Aus$1.3 billion or US$1.3 billion in assets, namely offices, shopping centers and warehouses for 2013.

The new acquisitions would help increase the value of Australian assets under the management by 31% worth Aus$11 billion by the end of the year. As of June 30, the current asset worth is at Aus$8.4 billion, according to David Harrison, joint managing director of the property trust firm based out of Sydney.

One of the plans is to list the REIT publicly in order to meet investor demand. This depends also on the availability of the properties for sale, according to Harrison.

The total value of Australian commercial properties that was bought and sold in 2013 was at Aus3.5 billion. This is an increase of 15% from 2012. The demand is driven by local investors according to data compiled by broker CBRE Group Inc.