This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AN Ampol anchored truck stop outside of Toowoomba has sold for $11.2 million as fuel centres drove total transactions in a portfolio sale to $51.5 million.
Cushman & Wakefield sold 10 assets as part of its national investment sales July portfolio.
Service stations accounted for $20 million in sales, alongside childcare centres, large format retail and healthcare properties.
The one hectare Ampol site, at 10810 Warrego Highway in Charlton, sold on a yield of 5.75% with a 15 year lease until 2031, while a United tenanted service station in Coopers Plains in southern Brisbane sold at auction for $7.9 million on a 5.6% yield.
Three childcare centres in Queensland sold under the hammer, with another selling post-auction. They included a Morningside centre leased to ASX-listed G8 Education for $7.2 million, on a 4.98% yield, and a Kids Club centre in Arana Hills for $5.6 million, at 4.99% yield.
Both sold well in excess of reserves, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Michael Collins, Tom Moreland, Aaron Dahl, Yosh Mendis, and Geoff Sinclair, who managed the national sales campaign across the portfolio.
Moreland saw childcare centres continue to draw the eye of investors given their long term lease fundamentals and confidence in the tenants’ operating businesses. We are fielding regular calls from high net worth investors and funds looking to gain exposure to the childcare industry.”
An investor attracted to the boom in regional travel bought a BCF showroom in Warrawong for $7.6 million at auction, on a yield of 5.30%.
The lowest yield among the portfolio was 4.95%, achieved in the $2.43 million sale of a medical centre in Norwest Business Park in New South Wales.
A Tranzmile truck and trailer parts showroom in Queensland’s Kingaroy sold prior to auction for an undisclosed amount.
More than 1,000 enquiries were received across the portfolio, and almost 200 requests for contracts, the agents said.
Cushman & Wakefield’s head of national investment sales, Michael Collins, said interest in service stations, childcare and medical assets “remains at an all-time high”.
“With one in five enquiries resulting in a request for contract and an uplift in pre-auction offers, it shows that demand remains high despite the latest lockdowns.”
Ten of the 13 properties in the portfolio – or 77% – are sold, and the agents are in advanced negotiations over two additional United service stations that are expected to fetch in excess of $15 million.
“We continue to see yields sharpen across alternative commercial property asset classes driven by both demand and stock availability for well- located properties.”
