This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
WARREN Ebert’s Sentinel Property Group has offloaded the Hunter Supa Centre at Rutherford in NSW for $42.25 million after acquiring it for $18.5 million less than four years ago.
Sentinel acquired the property in May 2013 for $18.5 million and the sale is forecast to receive a total Internal rate of return of approximately 47.05% to investors.
Ebert said the strategic divestment has fully capitalised on the rising market demand for well-located and well-leased retail centres.
“Large format retail centres were well out of favour when we purchased this property, with many big funds selling out. Sentinel has built its success on being a first mover ahead of the pack and we identified the opportunity to buy this property when it was not wanted by others,” he added.
Located at 343 New England Highway at Rutherford, near Maitland, 40 km north-west of Newcastle and 160 km north of Sydney. The Hunter Supa Centre is set on a site area of 50,690 sqm and features three separate buildings, completed in 2007, accommodating 21 retail tenancies with a total lettable area of 19,768 sqm and a central car park with 438 parking bays.
It is fully-leased and is underpinned by leases to major tenants including Nick Scali, Supercheap Auto, Pet Barn, Fantastic Furniture, Repco, Sheridan and Laz-Boy.
The sale of the Hunter Supa Centre follows a number of retail property sales by Sentinel in 2016, including the sale of the Menai Central complex in Sydney’s south for $46.35 million, Coles shopping centres in Narromine and Wellington in central NSW for $4.18 million and $3.6 million, and the Jimboomba Junction shopping centre in south east Queensland $27.48 million.
Ebert said Sentinel has bought very well in the retail sector, in particular large format retail and neighbourhood shopping centres, and is now well placed to maximise returns for its investors on divestment.
“There is growing weight of money chasing assets in the retail sector and we are in the strong position of having plenty of stock as we were buying when others were not,” he added.
Australian Property Journal
