This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
COMMERCIAL property sales in Adelaide dropped off to just $102.4 million in the three months to April, down from $256 million in the preceding quarter.
The latest data from Cityscope showed that while 15 sales were recorded in the market over the most recent period, their value accounted for around 40% of the nine sales in the three months prior.
The 20 sales registered in the quarter to October 2017 totalled $184.3 million.
Over the year April 2018, 62 sales totalling $572.5 million were recorded, down from the $633.3 million across 73 sales in the previous 12 months.
Commercial building sales in the April quarter came in at $40.4 million, tumbling from the $252.5 million in the period to January. Retail building sales were up to $23.5 million after no transactions were recorded in the three months prior.
Other building sales – taking in a range of asset classes including development, education, hotel and residential sites – were up from $1.5 million to $37.9 million.
Key deals over the quarter included Primewest’s sale of the eight-storey Australian Central Building at 60 Light Square for $35 million, while the five and six-level 290-room Mercure Grosvenor Hotel at 121-125 North Terrace, traded for $20 million.
Yesterday, SkyCity Entertainment Group announced the 12-level Adelaide Casino redevelopment would begin next month, which will include a new 123-room luxury hotel, while Cbus Property acquired the former Planet nightclub site of 2,911 sqm at 73-85 Pirie Street with plans to build a $72 million office tower.
The eight-level 147-148 Flinders Street building came to the market during the April quarter; the building has two ground-floor retail tenancies, two levels of car parking and five levels of office space with 450 sqm floor plates. Recent weeks saw Lendlease’s Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial put the headquarters of oil and gas group Santos at 60 Flinders Street up for sale, with hopes of fetching more than $100 million.
The U2 on Waymouth development at 114-122 Waymouth Street was also offered. The partially-constructed project is on a 1,486 sqm with original plans for a 25-storey mixed-use development. Colliers International’s expressions of interest campaign closed in the first week of April.
Among major leasing opportunities are 1 King William Street, formerly Origin Energy House and AMP Building, which has office spaces from 300 sqm to 8,000 sqm; spaces of 400 sqm to 3,000 sqm within the 13-level 101-109 Grenfell Street tower, and up to 2,500 sqm in the four-level Anna Building at 153 Flinders Street.
According to recent JLL research, the Adelaide CBD office market vacancy rate was largely unchanged at 15.2% through the first quarter of 2018, with the prime grade sector at 11.6%, and secondary grade vacancy at 17.4%.
Property Council of Australia data in February showed green shoots for positive tenant demand with 9,696 sqm recorded over the six months to January. Withdrawals totalled 1,235 sqm.
Australian Property Journal
