Shopping Centre

Shopping centres are again attracting buyer interest with a ­series of deals in train that will see Lendlease funds sell more than $400m worth of malls and outlets across Australasia change hands.

Property fund managers are snapping up neighbourhood shopping centres that can be repositioned to boost their performance, with Stirling Property Funds targeting The Junction in Newcastle for about $46 million.

The pick up in momentum in the retail property sector in the latter half of 2019 points to a strong year ahead as investment funds continue to look for strategic opportunities, JLL’s Shopping Centre Investment Report says.

German supermarket giant Aldi giant has become the latest company to capitalise on the boom in logistics property deals and has tapped real estate firm JLL to offer a $700m portfolio of warehouses.

Kmart has stunned shoppers in Melbourne’s inner north with the announcement that it will shut its Northcote store after almost 40 years.

Property developers are building kitchens in empty mall space and parking lots to fill food-delivery orders, a new approach in the fast-growing business of shuttling meals to customers.

Mirvac has outlined plans for a dramatic $1 billion revamp of the Harbourside Shopping Centre at Darling Harbour via the NSW government’s controversial unsolicited proposals scheme.

German supermarket discounter Kaufland’s shock decision to abandon the Australian market – quitting before opening a single store, after devoting almost $500 million to the launch – is a positive for the grocery sector, with Coles and Metcash the biggest winners as they were viewed as most likely to lose market share to the foreign entrant.

The international spread of the coronavirus is the latest challenge to hit the ailing mall sector, ­already dealing with a series of retail chain collapses, an extended drought and the impact of bushfires along the eastern seaboard.