This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Petrol king Nick Andrianakos has emerged as the buyer of a half-share in major Melbourne mall Northland, with the $385 million sale price coming in below expectations held by the vendor, GPT’s unlisted Shopping Centre Fund.
Colliers told Australian Property Journal in September – CBRE was also on the campaign –around $430 million was tipped for the 50% interest, which would have shown a yield of around 6%.
Andrianakos yet again joins ASX-listed Vicinity Centres as co-owner of a major shopping centre asset. Most recently, he bought 50% interest in South Australia’s Elizabeth City Centre for $170 million.
The partnership already manages Broadmeadows Central in Victoria and Colonnades in South Australia.
Occupying a 19.04-hectare site, Northland features a substantial gross leasable area of approximately 98,000 sqm and is anchored by one of Victoria’s best-performing Myer stores, as well as Target, Kmart, Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Hoyts Cinemas, with a weighted average lease expiry by income of nearly 7.5 years.
About 60% of income is subject to annual reviews of 3% to 5%.
The last transacted stake in a super-regional asset in Victoria prior to this year was Pacific Werribee in 2018, at a reported cap rate of 4%, well before the COVID pandemic and the e-commerce boom reset values. In January, GPT said it had come to an agreement with the GPT Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund that will see the ASX-listed group take on a greater ownership stake in Melbourne megamall Highpoint.
Elsewhere in the Melbourne retail market, South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings has just sold the David Jones store in Bourke Street Mall with a leaseback agreement for $223.5 million to IP Generation, coming in on a yield of more than 7%, while not far away ISPT is hoping for around $80 million for 206 Bourke Street.
Meanwhile, Queensland Investment Corporation, which has been selling down major retail assets, has been close to striking a deal for Woodgrove Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s growing outer west, at around $450 million.
