This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
A COLES-anchored neighbourhood shopping centre in Adelaide’s fastest growing metropolitan region in up for grabs, with the resilient asset type still the most desirable.
Gawler Green Shopping Centre, located on a 16,530sqm Tulloch Road site in Evanston, is comprised of a full-line Coles Supermarket, as well as 14 specialty stores and a standalone Hungry Jack’s on its title.
Ben Parkinson, managing director of JLL, South Australia and Jacob Swan, joint head of Investments at JLL, Australia, along with Andrew Zammit and Jamie Guerra from Leedwell Property have been appointed to manage the sale of the centre via an expressions of interest campaign.
“The sale of neighbourhood shopping centres reached a record high in FY21 at $2.6 billion nationally. The strength of investment activity is reflective of the defensive underlying performance of the centres and the boost in grocery sales over the last 12 month,” said Swan.
BIS Oxford Economics recently revealed that neighbourhood centre yields, reflecting strong investor demand for defensive assets, have for the first time have firmed below sub-regional yields, averaging 6.3% with some sales achieving below 5.0% in the first half of 2021.
“Despite some normalising in the rate of growth, supermarket turnover is still 9.4% higher nationally than before the pandemic (as at May 2021), including 7.8% higher in South Australia,” added Swan.
The Gawler Green Shopping Centre currently brings in around $2.1 million in returns each year.
The centre is support not just by exposure to 21,400 passing vehicles each day generated by the prominent Main North Road and Tulloch Road signalised intersection, but also by a strong surrounding retail precinct.
The centre sits adjacent to a Bunnings Warehouse and opposite to an Aldi supermarket.
“Gawler is a key regional service centre for communities to the north of Adelaide and forms the gateway to the famous Barossa Valley as well as rural areas north of Adelaide,” said Guerra.
“Gawler is a rapidly growing satellite and commuter area for the metropolitan areas of Adelaide. These population drivers have delivered strong MAT growth for the centre and offers purchasers a secure core income from the major tenants coupled with strong income growth potential.”
Annual retail trade growth in June for South Australia was at 7.8%, down from the 9.4% in April, the highest rate of annual growth since December 2008, according to the ABS.
“The most recent sale in South Australia of a stand-alone supermarket was Drakes at Salisbury in 2020, which reflected a 5.1% yield. By comparison, recent sales of centres interstate have demonstrated yields consistently below 5%. These include Woolworths Bulli in NSW and Greenvale Lakes and Bellarine Village in Victoria,” said Parkinson.
While nationally, the first public sales campaign for a major metropolitan Melbourne neighbourhood shopping centre development site in 2021 was launched and in what was only the fourth metropolitan neighbourhood centre sale in WA for the year taking place, with the Woolworths anchored Coolbellup Village Shopping Centre being purchased by APIL for $20.5 million.
The expressions of interest campaign for the Gawler Green Shopping Centre is set to close on 20 October, 2021.
