Prime car dealership site up for grabs in Waitara
47-53 Pacific Highway, Waitara.
A prime Waitara car dealership site has come to market for the first time in 35 years.
No. 47-53 Pacific Highway is home to Waitara Subaru and is owned by automotive business partners David Stevenson and Geoff Boyd-Boland.
They have decided to retire from the car industry with global automotive leader Inchcape engaging a long-term lease of the site.
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Matthew Meynell and Tom Appleby, of Colliers, are managing the sale but are yet to release a guide for the property.
Mr Meynell, Colliers’ national director of Investment Services, says the retail freehold occupies a prime 1435sqm block that benefits from favourable underlying planning controls, which essentially future-proofs the investment.
“Given the vast majority of automotive assets are located in prominent locations, they’re now catching the eye of developers willing to land bank and strengthen their development pipeline,” he says.
47-53 Pacific Highway, Waitara co-owner David Stevenson.
Mr Meynell and Mr Appleby, Colliers’ director of Investment Services, anticipate investor and developer interest will directly correlate with the high demand for cars.
The number of local car sales jumping by 28.3 per cent the six months to June, when compared to the same period last year, they say.
“Astute investors covet the automotive sector given the scarce, secure and passive nature of these premium investments,” Mr Appleby says.
“Favourable fundamentals including a 5+5-year lease in place to pandemic-proof tenant, Inchcape, and 3.75 per cent fixed annual rent reviews, will ensure this opportunity is hotly contested. Buyer sentiment is quickly gaining momentum, with ‘Freedom Day’ fast approaching.”
Waitara has long been the automotive hub for Sydney’s upper north shore. Subaru’s neighbours include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Volkswagen, Toyota, AutoOne and Repco. In recent years Australia’s second-largest listed automotive retailer, Autosports Group, purchased the Mercedes-Benz dealership at 120-124 Pacific Highway for $12.5m, and McCarroll’s Automotive Group secured 42-54 Pacific Highway from Toyota for $21m.
No 47-53 Pacific Highway, Waitara goes to auction on October 14.
