New CEO Paul Ford to lead Centennial’s push into industrial property

Paul Ford has been appointed CEO of Centennial.

Real estate investment house Centennial has launched its first open-ended industrial and logistics property fund and is close to striking a new capital partnership to drive its growth.

Centennial’s industrial and logistics boss, Paul Ford, has been appointed chief executive, rising from his post as joint managing director, alongside Adrian Taylor, who has stepped down.

Firm founder and executive director Jonathan Wolf will also become executive chair after the inaugural chair, Ivan Hammerschlag, retires.

Mr Ford, who initially teamed up with Centennial in 2018 via a joint venture, noted the company’s shift from a private investment house for wealthy investors to a larger real estate investment firm with a strong presence in inner-ring industrial and logistics and retail.

“We were highly active in 2025, having completed 32 property transactions totalling close to $830m, and expect to build on that momentum over the coming year with a new capital partner on-board,” he said.

The Australian Wholefoods site in Salisbury.

Meanwhile, the company’s Centennial Metro Industrial & Logistics Fund has shot past its seed capital raising target of $28m and is chasing properties nationally. It has been seeded with two assets in Sydney and Adelaide bought for a total of $48.25m. In Sydney, Centennial picked up a 17,950sq m site at 6 Ash Road in the industrial heartland of Prestons for $29.75m. A 7585sq m warehouse is on the site and it is fully leased to PACT Group unit Jalco. There are development opportunities on 3000sq m of surplus land, and Centennial sees strong growth to come in the area. The sale was brokered by Michael Wall, John Swanson, Alex Jaafar and Nick Crothers of Savills.

In Adelaide’s land-constrained northern industrial suburb of Salisbury, the fund also picked up a 14,795sq m site mainly leased to Australian Wholefoods for $18.5m in a deal brokered by Max Frolich and Ryan Mills of Knight Frank. AWF occupies 7905sq m across six buildings and there is 1500sq m of surplus land with hardstand.

Centennial is targeting inner-ring, supply-constrained areas in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with assets in Adelaide and Perth capped at 25 per cent of the fund and up to 20 per cent in major regional centres. It seesvalue in under-capitalised assets in land constrained locations via off-market deals.