This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE standalone Woolworths Leongatha supermarket has been listed will go under the hammer in a stock-starved market that has seen only three sales in Victoria this year.
At 1-7 Peart St, the 3,143 sqm store is on a 3,267 sqm site that includes at grade parking for 142 cars. Woolworths has nine years of a 20 year lease remaining, and currently returns a net annual income of $699,000.
CBRE’s Joseph Du Rieu, Mark Wizel and Justin Dowers are marketing the property, going to auction the agency’s next premium portfolio property auction on 10 October.
Du Rieu said the strongly performing supermarket was the first in more than two years to be offered with turnover rent in Victoria.
“This time last year we had seen the sale of six freestanding supermarkets and this year only three, but none of those offered turnover rent and that is going to drive further interest is what is an increasingly hungry market for this type of product.”
Demand for standalone supermarkets has been underpinned by their non-discretionary spend tenancy profile, blue chip tenants, long leases, and sites with strong underlying land value and future development potential.
He said there has been competition for property over other, perhaps more volatile, asset classes, and property assets such as supermarkets that are regarded as defensive investments are attracting more attention.
Dowers said the lack of stock would also contribute to the attention Woolworths Leongatha was likely to attract as would the lower value of the Australian dollar.
Leongatha is the largest town within the South Gippsland Shire with a population currently around 6,000 and forecast to grow to over 8,030 by 2036.
