This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
OVER $40 million in large format retail centres changed hands in regional NSW locations at the close of 2022, with major acquisitions occurring in both Dubbo and Griffith.
The bigger of the deals was the $28.33 million transaction of the Bunnings-anchored Griffith Hometown to Argus Property Partners.
Griffith Hometown comprises three freestanding buildings across 19,070 sqm of lettable area, which could be added to with vacant land included in the offering.
The centre is located 2 kilometres south east of the Griffith CBD on a prominent 6.4-hectare corner site, attributing two extensive frontages to the main arterial roads Kidman Way and Watkins Avenue.
It sold through Colliers and Savills. It was put to the market in 2019 with expectations of 2019.
In the other deal, Colliers James Wilson and Ben Wilkinson managed the $13.277 million sale of Dubbo Homemaker Centre, on behalf of Stevens Group.
The newly built centre on the corner of the Mitchell Highway was purchased by MPG Funds Management and was sold at a fully leased yield of 5.75%, and gross lettable area rate of $3,154 per sqm.
All 4,209 sqm of space is leased by national retailers including Total Tools, Fantastic Furniture and OMF.
Colliers recorded over $1.5 billion worth of large-format retail centre sales in 2022 through a combination of private and institutional capital targeting the asset class.
“This was due to the sector largely offering strategic land holdings in high growth locations with fixed annual rental reviews,” Wilson said.
“Dubbo Homemaker Centre’s competitive bidding reflected the quality of the Stevens Group development in a market featuring limited NSW investment supply in late 2022.”
The December quarter saw $540 million worth of retail property transactions nationwide, according to The Data App, a 65% fall on the same period a year earlier.
Dubbo Homemaker Centre will be held within the MPG Bulky Goods Retail Trust.
“Compared to other property asset classes, we consider that the large format retail sector offers good value, and we are actively seeking to grow the Trust with the addition of new large format properties in the range of $10 million to $50 million,” said Brett Gorman, director of MPG Funds Management said,
Jason Capuano of Stevens Group said Dubbo Homemaker Centre is the final stage of the master-planned precinct in Dubbo featuring Carls Jnr, Mobil, a childcare centre and large format retail.
“Working with large investment groups such as MPG is recognition of the high standard of work consistently delivered by Stevens Group and our strong relationships with national and international retailers.”
Stevens Group has completed more than 200 projects over the last 40 years and has a large pipeline of projects underway throughout NSW.
