This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CHARTER Hall Retail REIT has acquired the 5.86-hectare Campbellfield Plaza in Melbourne’s northern suburbs for $74 million from ISPT, as it continues to refocus its portfolio towards larger assets with strong growth prospects.
The centre was sold by the ISPT Core Fund which bought it in 1995.
The site, on the corner of Sydney Road and Mahoney’s Road, also offers long-term redevelopment given its low site coverage of 17,900 sqm.
Anchor tenants, including one of Victoria’s strongest-performing Kmart stores, a Coles supermarket, latest format ALDI, and Officeworks contribute around 80% of gross income. They are either paying or expected to pay percentage rent within the initial investment horizon, or are under fixed rental increases.
The centre also comprises 19 specialty tenants and at-grade car parking for more than 800 cars.
The purchase will be funded from the proceeds of the trust’s recent sales of its underperforming shopping centres at Coomera in Queensland and Young in New South Wales, which it offloaded for a combined $76.1 million.
Greg Chubb, Charter Hall Retail chief executive officer said the transaction is consistent with the trust’s strategy to transition the portfolio from smaller non-core assets towards “larger convenience-based supermarket anchored shopping centres with strong demographic profiles where it can add value through active management”.
He said the trust remains well capitalised post this acquisition and recent dispositions, with existing cash and debt facilities forecast to be approximately $150 million to “take advantage of any future opportunities that may arise”.
It acquired the Gateway Plaza shopping centre in Leopold, in Geelong’s east, for $117 million earlier this year, while in 2017 it picked up 24,000 sqm Salamander Bay shopping centre in Port Stephens for $174.5 million, and Highfields Village in Toowoomba for $41 million.
In that time, it has sold off the Thornleigh Marketplace and a Coles supermarket in Earlwood, both in Sydney’s upper north shore, for a combined $71.8 million, as well as three northern Tasmanian supermarkets for $26.7 million, Queensland’s Springfield Fair and Goonellabah in northern New South Wales for $38 million, and Albany Creek Square in Brisbane and Renmark Square in South Australia.
Australian Property Journal
