This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MORE than $250 million is expected for Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC’s half-interest in sub-regional shopping centre Westfield Whitford City, as more signs of activity return to the retail market.
The 88,880 sqm centre, located in the affluent coastal suburb of Hillarys, 20 kilometres north of Perth, is primarily set across a single level and anchored by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, Kmart, and a Big W discount department store.
An $80 million redevelopment completed in 2017 delivered a dining and entertainment precinct, incorporating an eight-screen Event Cinemas, a bowling alley, and a mix of dining operators.
Colliers’ Lachlan MacGillivray has been appointed to sell the 50% non-management interest via an expression of interest campaign closing 26th July.
Scentre Group holds the other 50% stake.
MacGillivray said, “This is a high-performing, large-scale convenience centre which is at the heart of its community”.
He said the average customer visits three times per week and the Centre is home to the state’s top-performing Woolworths supermarket.
“We are seeing strong growth after a major remix and the introduction of drawcard brands to build on the success of its best-in-class cinema and lifestyle precinct.”
Westfield Whitford City is situated on a 23.5-hectare corner landholding, including a separately-titled large format retail centre. That is broken down into 65,759 sqm of enclosed retail floorspace in the main centre, 2,970 sqm of offices, 6,422 sqm of pad sites and 9,728 sqm of large format retail.
The centre has a total moving annual turnover of $499.6 million, and caters to a large trade area population of 458,210 and received 6.7 million annual customer visits as at April, with an average spend of $67 per person.
The centre offers extensive value-add development opportunities in the short, medium and long terms, with existing plans for the construction of an eight‑storey building with 87 apartments; a three‑storey office building totalling 3,720 sqm of NLA; and a plaza.
Its 970-metre frontage to Whitfords Avenue and Marmion Avenue exposes the centre to more than 6.8 million vehicles per annum.
Westfield Whitford City is the core retail and entertainment offering in the area, which MacGillivray said is located in the fast-growing northwest corridor of Perth and boasts a coastal lifestyle and offers easy access to beaches, parks, schools and amenities.
“We are seeing a strong selection of domestic and international investors looking to partner with Australia’s leading retail asset manager.”
Offshore investors and private players driven by attractive asset pricing will dominate Australian retail real estate acquisitions throughout 2023, while AREITs will likely be net sellers, JLL has said.
The retail sector’s large falls in valuation during the pandemic should limit the impact of lower values rolling through in the coming months, according Fitch Ratings’.
Among the few deals that have landed in recent times are Nikos Property Group’s $134.5 million purchase of a 50% interest in Vicinity Centres’ Broadmeadows Central shopping centre – a deal struck at about 4% above book value and on a yield of circa 6.6% – and IP Generation’s $300 million acquisition of Craigieburn Central from Lendlease and its Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Retail. APPF is reportedly set to sell Far North Queensland’s only regional shopping centre, Cairns Central, for $430 million to McConaghy Properties, having initially hoped for $500 million.
Figures from The Data App show retail property capitalisation rates are now at the highest level not seen for a number of years, topping 7.28% to the end of May.
