This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GLOBAL real estate firm Hines has made its first Australian industrial acquisition, buying a portfolio of four assets in Sydney and Brisbane for $211.5 million.
The purchase was made through Hines Asia Property Partners, the firm’s flagship commingled Asia Pacific core plus fund, with local fund manager Pipeclay Lawson on the sell side.
Three of the properties are in large land sites in western Sydney – 68 Anzac Street, Chullora; 13 Ferndell Street, South Granville; and 128 Russell Street, Emu Plains – and the fourth in Brisbane’s Trade Coast precinct, at 55 Brownlee Street, Pinkenba.
They total a combined 58,350 sqm of net lettable area and 12 hectares of land. BlueScope Steel and aerospace and defence tech company L3 Harris are among the tenants.
“These four assets provide us with immediate scale and a solid foundation on which to grow our industrial and logistics platform in Australia,” said Alysia Reilly, head of industrial and logistics, Australia at Hines.
“Our acquisition strategy is location driven so the fact that this portfolio was heavily weighted to Sydney was a key driver. We are actively targeting locations that fit Hines’ last-mile / urban logistics criteria and assets that we can transition into next-generation urban infill distribution centres over time.”
The Chullora property can be developed to a further 8,366 sqm of warehousing. Industrial rental growth rose at its fastest rate in the March quarter in nearly 30 years, and CBRE is tipping industrial rents are due to grow by 11.9% in 2022 as demand for warehouses, sheds and hardstand outpaces available supply across the major capital cities.
13 Ferndell Street, South Granville
A surge in fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to push up rents in industrial infill markets over the next five years, as operators look to position their stock closer to the end consumer, according to Colliers.
Since 2020, Hines has now acquired nine logistics assets totalling 290,000 sqm over six cities in Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Globally, it has invested nearly US$4.1 billion in the industrial and logistics sector and completed over 60 acquisitions representing more than four million sqm. It has an additional 36 development projects ranging from in-design to completed, currently held in the portfolio.
, senior managing director and fund manager of HAPP at Hines, said the logistics market is experiencing robust growth globally.
“HAPP will target increasing opportunities similar to this Australia acquisition and build significant exposure to logistics through our portfolio deals in Asia Pacific.”
Hines’ other Australian assets include a $200 million timber office building development in Melbourne’s inner suburb of Collingwood and multiple build-to-rent projects in inner north suburbs in Melbourne, while HAPP bought the Brisbane’s State Law Building at 50 Ann Street a year ago for $210 million.
