This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CENTENNIAL has secured an equity stake in Parkstone Funds Management as part of their joint acquisition of Bundaberg’s Hinkler Central shopping centre, and is harbouring aims to build a $1 billion niche retail portfolio.
Centennial and Parkstone acquired Bundaberg’s largest shopping centre for $107 million from the Queensland government’s investment arm QIC earlier this year, with the deal settling in late March.
As part of the deal, Centennial has acquired an equity interest in Parkstone with the right to increase over time, plus board representation.
Parkstone currently has around $240 million in funds under management across six neighbourhood supermarket-anchored centres in South Australia and regional NSW, while Centennial’s portfolio of funds under management now nudging $2.1 billion, comprises 85 assets spread across urban and last-mile industrial and logistics, commercial and boutique residential property.
“The acquisition of Hinkler Central comes at a time when the sector is beginning to see a resurgence in the demand for dominant centres offering healthy yields for investors,” Centennial said.
The centre’s gross lettable area and moving annual turnover (MAT) metrics position it among the top 10 centres nationally in its class.
Centennial executive director, Paul Ford said, “We are delighted to have participated in the acquisition of such a high-quality investment whilst also forming a strategic partnership with Parkstone”.
“This is the first of what we anticipate will be a broader partnership that will position us as a major player at scale in this space.”
Hinkler Central Shopping Centre is Bundaberg’s largest and highest performing retail precinct, sitting at 99% occupancy and anchored by Woolworths, Kmart and Coles and includes a further 65 retail and dining spaces. The centre’s metrics position Hinkler Central among the top 10 nationally in its class, Centennial said.
Parkstone managing director, Tim Wilkin, said, “We consider it an excellent yield and growth play because of the high barriers to entry in this market, being acquired approximately 30% below replacement cost.
“There also exists further opportunity to enhance the Centre in terms of development along with the ability to access positive rental reversion.”
