This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CENTURIA Property Funds has sold its office building at 90 Crown St, Wollongong for $43.9 million on a yield of 8.3% to a Melbourne based funds management group.
The price is a new record for the Wollongong commercial property market achieving a rate of $4,786 per sqm. Centuria bought the asset in 2005 for $30.675 million.
The buyer was Castlerock Property Group.
Centuria unlisted property CEO Jason Huljich said Wollongong has recently received significant interest from investors as yields continue to compress in traditional core markets.
“Although much of Centuria’s investment focus is on major metropolitan and fringe markets, primarily in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, where buyer demand has been expanding significantly, we are also seeing strong demand within the core regional markets such as Wollongong,” he added.
Huljich said interest in the sales campaign and the record rate per sqm were validations of Centuria’s active management philosophy.
“The property is fully leased, primarily to Government tenants and delivers an estimated annual income of $3,636,018, which equates to a passing yield of 8.3%.
“While managing the asset, Centuria undertook various works to improve the building’s sustainability, achieving a NABERS rating of 4.5 stars and over 70% of the leases were reset prior to taking the asset to market. Development approval for additional office and retail space was also secured, which contributed to achieving an excellent result for investors,” he continued.
The campaign was handled by Knight Frank’s Richard Garland and Jonathan Vaughan in conjunction with MMJ Real Estate -Wollongong’s Geoff Jones, Travis Machan and Tim Jones.
Australian Property Journal
