This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
TWO fast food assets in Sydney – a KFC and a Chambers Coffee outlet – have sold in online auctions that were forced by the coronavirus outbreak.
The KFC restaurant in Dulwich Hill sold for $4.26 million on a yield of 3.17%, and the coffee roaster and retailer premises in Rhodes for $2.99 million at 6.02%.
Bidders accessed the auction via their mobile phone, iPad or PC from their home, and investors also took part via phone bidding and in-person at the live auction room at Cooley Auctions, and remote rooms in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Those who attended the live auction were subject to social distancing measures and included screening bidders before entry, having chairs 1.5 metres apart, providing hand sanitiser and having separate rooms available to elderly bidders who might not feel comfortable in the main room.
Selling agents Yosh Mendis and Michael Collins of Cushman & Wakefield marketed the KFC, which they said achieved the lowest yield ever recorded in Australia for a fast food retail asset, and attracted 340 enquiries and 53 contract requests.
“The pioneering of an online auction bidding confirmed that investors have been quick to embrace new technologies and adapt to the realities of the rapidly changing external environment,” Collins said. “We expect this will become the new norm for commercial property auctions over the coming period.”
Mendis and colleague Geoff Sinclair handled the Chambers Coffee campaign.
“We had under bidders from KFC Dulwich Hill who then hotly contested for Chambers Coffee in Rhodes, some who had never inspected the property but arrived on auction day with the single objective of purchasing a long term leased passive investment asset,” Mendis said.
“Many private investors also continue to take a long-term view when it comes to the current dislocations we are seeing in financial markets. This explains the ongoing attraction of assets that are both defensive and offer higher yields compared to other safe-haven investments.”
