Altis checks out of Lake Haven mall in $46m deal
Altis Property Partners has sold Lake Haven Homemaker Centre, the last in a group of four large format retail (LFR) assets, through a $46.25 million deal, taking advantage of a resurgence of investment in the sector.
Located on the NSW Central Coast, the Lake Haven mall was sold on a yield of around 6.5 per cent to Metro Diversified, which snapped up the Homebase Wagga retail centre in January for $46 million.
On the corner of Pacific Highway and Lake Haven Drive, some 100 kilometres north of Sydney, the Lake Haven mall opened in 2007. It is home to Harvey Norman and Boating Camping Fishing stores, along with Pets Domain, Beds R Us, Barbeques Galore, Autobarn and Beacon Lighting.
The deal, brokered by JLL’s Nick Willis and Sam Hatcher, comes amid a broader rush of capital into retail real estate after the disruption of last year. Homemaker centres have proven particularly resilient, benefiting from both the resurgent housing market and the increased popularity of working from home.
“The LFR sector has evolved over the past 10 years and investors have woken to the risk-adjusted returns it offers in comparison to the other retail sub-sectors,” Mr Willis said.
“The investor demand in recent years has been further enhanced by the sectors retailer performance, rent collection reported throughout COVID-19, and value-add potential through the land rich nature of these assets.”
Mr Hatcher noted that increasing numbers of new investors were showing interest in the sector.
Lake Haven is the final asset in a group of four malls that Altis first looked to divest three years ago.
In 2018, Arkadia Capital Group’s Greg Karedis, son of property baron Theo Karedis, snapped up Altis’s Homemaker centre in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, for $170 million, reflecting a fully leased yield of 7.31 per cent.
Around the same time, the Homemaker Greenway and Greenway Plaza in NSW was acquired by a private mandate managed by billionaire Brett Blundy’s Aventus Property Group for $112.4 million, reflecting a fully leased yield of 7.64 per cent.
A year later ASX-listed Dexus bought Homemaker Prospect, a 25,770sq m large-format retail centre near Blacktown, for about $65 million on a 7 per cent yield from Altis.
Values for major shopping malls have taken a hit over the past year or more. At the same time, large format retail hubs have firmed further as institutional grade assets, with yields tightening from nearly 12 per cent in 2012-13 to around 5.5 per cent on average.
