Australian Unity takes off to Newcastle Airport

AUSTRALIAN Unity is betting on the resilience of defence, acquiring the Williamtown Aerospace Centre, a commercial office park by the Newcastle Airport, for $55 million.

The property was purchased by Australian Unity’s Diversified Property Fund, sitting 17kms north of Newcastle’s city centre, the campus-style office park at 1-2 Technology Place includes three lots and six stand-alone buildings.

The 22,298sqm property, which is adjacent to the airport and the Williamtown Royal Australian Air Force Base, houses light industrial with both on-ground and decked parking,

The property was developed as a defence office park precinct, by WAC Holdings in 2014 and is currently fully occupied with WALE of 3.9 years by income.

The Williamtown Aerospace Centre will offer the funds investors further exposure to the defence sector, which is both resilient a beneficiary of support from the federal government.

“This acquisition in Williamtown, combined with the recently acquired Centre of Defence in Osborne, South Australia, is an important part of our strategy to diversify the Fund’s tenant base and cement sustainable investor earnings via access to defence sector income,” said Nikki Panagopoulos, fund manager.

Tenants include multinationals like Boeing, Raytheon and Lockhead Martin, as well as niche service providers for the defence sector and a medical centre.

“Whilst the property is currently occupied by defence industry supporting tenants, the location of the property, the design of the buildings, abundance of car parking and the rental rates makes it a property ideally situated for any commercial tenant in the future,” added Panagopoulos.

Australian Unity’s Diversified Property Fund currently boasts a combined value of circa. $623 million across 11 properties, including industrial warehouses, neighbourhood retail and convenience centres and metropolitan office properties.

In March, Australian Unity rejected a $2.5 billion takeover bid for its Unlisted Healthcare Property Trust by the Canadian NorthWest Healthcare Properties.

While the company’s Specialist Disability Accommodation Fund recently made a deal with GreenFort Capital to facilitate the development of a $40 million portfolio across Brisbane, Moreton Bay, and Logan City.

The company’s Diversified Property Fund’s one year total return was at 22.62%, with a 9.96% distribution return and 12.66% growth return, as of 31 May.