This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RETAIL property activity in Victoria’s greater Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula region has gathered further pace, with the Woolworths-anchored Curlewis shopping centre at Clifton Springs hitting the market.
Selling agents Mark Wizel, Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong of CBRE would not comment on price expectations, but industry sources suggest more than $16 million is likely.
The offering lands within a fortnight of the recently constructed, freestanding Woolworths Lara supermarket coming to the market, also through the CBRE agents, likely to fetch north of $20 million, and follows a string of assets in the area put up for sale.
Curlewis Shopping Centre opened in 2015 and has a Woolworths and BWS liquor store, as well as a medical centre, pharmacy, optometrist, café, Commonwealth Bank branch, hair salon and other specialty stores, and parking for 185 cars.
It has a gross lettable area of 4,435 sqm and returns around $1.115 million fully leased. Woolworths has a 15-year lease.
According to .id, the population of the City of Greater Geelong is expected to grow from 251,540 currently to 325,779 by 2036.
“The retail catchment therefore is something that prospective purchasers will note as a potentially significant contributor to the returns on the investment over time,” Wizel said.
The Jetty Road Urban Growth Area Plan, to the west of Clifton Springs, is expected to accommodate a large proportion of the projected 20,000 resident growth of the Bellarine Peninsula, and add more than 8000 people to the local catchment area.
Dowers said high non-discretionary spend tenancy mixes with long-term leases to blue chip tenants, such as Woolworths, in high population growth regions, remained the key shopping centre investment drivers.
“What is also attracting investors today is the potential to add value in the longer term where town centre zoned land in rapidly growing suburbs allows for mixed use developments,” he said.
The 4,195 sqm Woolworths Lara is on an 8,804 sqm site with 241 car spaces and is leased to Woolworths with a BWS store on a 12-year lease.
Coles has just sold the 3,775 sqm new-format Drysdale supermarket just outside of Geelong at a 5.36% yield. The one-hectare site on Murradoc Road sold with a 15-year leaseback.
Also in Drysdale, the 3,130 sqm Woolworths-anchored Drysdale Village neighbourhood centre, on an 8,439 sqm site, is still on the market after being listed in October.
In June, Charter Hall Retail REIT paid $117 million for the Gateway Plaza shopping centre in Leopold, in Geelong’s east, to a fund run by Vicinity Centres, following a private investor acquiring the Woolworths-anchored Bellarine Village in Newcombe in May for $37 million at a circa 6.3% yield.
Coles also sold off the Torquay Village Shopping Centre, south of Geelong, for $35 million at an initial yield of 5.89% last summer.
Australian Property Journal
