This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (FLCT) has spent $60.25 million on a Mount Waverley multi-tenant office asset, in one of the first major office buildings to be offered publicly in 2022.
545 Blackburn Road, sitting 16km south-east of the Melbourne CBD, attracted interest from local, interstate and international buyers, with the 100% leased five-storey A Grade including 7,297sqm of total net lettable area.
“The acquisition is aligned with our strategy to pursue strategic opportunities which provides attractive yields and enables us to leverage our management expertise in Australia. With the property being 100% leased to reputable tenants in diverse industries, the Acquisition is expected to further enhance FLCT’s quality tenant mix and portfolio metrics, while providing unitholders with a stable income stream,” said Robert Wallace, CEO of the FLCT.
Scott Orchard and Tom Ryan from CBRE’s capital markets office team negotiated the sale on behalf of the site’s developers, a small syndicate which included founding members of carsales.com, with FLCT successfully securing the asset after a second round of offers.
“The strong result sets a new benchmark for the suburban market for an existing multi-tenanted office investment. Despite the rising cost of debt there is still motivated capital that is aggressively pursuing quality investments with the right location, improvement and tenant profile story,” said Orchard.
The Mount Waverley asset includes nine tenants overall, for a WALE of around five years.
“We took an aggressive position with the asset from a price potential perspective believing that the property matched other opportunities of this quality and price point in Melbourne’s city fringe market.”
“It’s been a nine-year journey of planning and development to bring our vision to fruition for 545 Blackburn Road.
According to the CEO of the vendor syndicate, Lee Mayberry, the syndicate has spent nine years planning and developing the asset prior to the sale.
“We had long term hold intentions for the asset, which is why it was built to such a high-quality specification. Our patience enabled us to put together an equally high-quality tenancy profile, with the building attracting occupiers mostly from the local area. However, a number of factors aligned making it more suitable for a passive owner over the next period of the asset’s life,” concluded Mayberry.
