Thornleigh Marketplace among $100m in shopping centre deals
Listed groups Charter Hall Retail REIT and Vicinity Centres has sold almost $100 million worth of smaller shopping centres as they switch focus to higher value assets.
In the larger deals, Charter Hall Retail REIT disposed of two shopping centres for a total of $71.8m.
The trust offloaded the Thornleigh Marketplace in NSW, in which it held a half stake, to a private group for a $43.1 million, in a deal brokered by Colliers International.
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The neighbourhood shopping centre on Sydney’s North Shore sits on an 8632sqm site and is close to Thornleigh train station.
The centre is anchored by Woolworths and Dan Murphy’s Liquor on a long lease. The sale was struck at a 3% premium to the centre’s book value and the price reflected a passing yield of 5.3%.
In a second sale, the trust sold a freestanding Coles anchored centre in Sydney’s Earlwood. The property was sold at auction by CBRE for $28.7 million.
That sale showed a passing yield of 4.2% and was a 24% premium to book value. The trust has also sold centres in Renmark, South Australia, and Smithton, Tasmania.
“We continue to transition the portfolio from non-core assets into larger convenience based non-discretionary centres where we can add value through active management,” Charter Hall’s Retail chief executive Greg Chubb says.
Meanwhile, Vicinity has sold Goldfields Plaza in Queensland to Lascorp Development Group for $27.5 million, reflecting a 1.1% premium to book value.
Vicinity chief executive Grant Kelley said the group had sold $136.7 million of non-core assets this financial year for a combined 2.7% premium to book values.
The plaza, sold by Jon and Peter Tyson of Savills, is a well-established enclosed neighbourhood shopping complex anchored by a Coles supermarket and a Target Country discount department store and 20 specialty shops.
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
