Altis looks to sell off four Homemaker Centres with price expectations of $500 million

The assets range in land size from 3 hectares to 6.6 hectares and can be bought individually or in one line.

Altis has held the assets for between three and five years and the portfolio was purchased for a combined total of $268.15 million.

Homemaker The Valley was acquired for $103.2 million and Homemaker Prospect for $40.45 million in 2013.

The firm then picked up Homemaker Lake Haven for $40.5 million in 2014 and the year after that, bought Homemaker Greenway and Greenway Plaza for $84 million.

Altis would net an 86-per-cent gain if the portfolio sells for its asking price.

JLL’s head of retail investments Australasia Simon Rooney, who is selling the properties, said large-format retail assets can be redeveloped as most of these properties occupy large, strategically located and high-profile sites, especially those located in growth areas.

“The diverse range of tenants and use-types in the assets has transformed them into much more than traditional homemaker centres. The introduction of gyms, food and lifestyle uses have enhanced customer foot traffic and responded to the strong consumer trend towards health and well-being,” he said.

Mr Rooney added that the large-format retail sector ­- which typically houses furniture, mattress and electronics retailers – has benefitted from the residential property building boom and household turnover.

“The fundamentals of the sector are attractive in terms of the outlook for income growth. Spending on household goods has grown by over 23 per cent in NSW over the last four years and over 18 per cent nationally,” he said.

“In addition, the supply of homemaker space was essentially cut off in 2010 – and has remained extremely low since that time.”

The large-format retail sector saw a record year in 2017 with more than $1.6 billion of assets changing hands, according to JLL. This was boosted by real estate investment fund manager LaSalle’s sale of Home Hub Castle Hill and Home Hub Marsden Park, both in Sydney’s north-west, which fund manager Aventus acquired for $436 million in May 2017.

“The large-format retail sector will benefit from the proposed planning reforms by the NSW Government, which plan to expand the use-types that can operate in large-format retail zoning and relax the requirements for loading facilities, bringing it in line with Victoria and Queensland,” Mr Rooney said.

Altis also owns the Homemaker Centre in Auburn, in Sydney’s west.