Big mall offerings in Brisbane and Canberra take tally to $4b
Two big shopping centres have hit the market this week – the Hyperdome in Logan, outside Brisbane, and the Marketplace Gungahlin in Canberra – taking the tally of major malls in play to $4 billion.
Held by QIC’s property arm, the $700 million Logan mall is the biggest single retail asset offered to the market this year, while the Canberra asset, which is owned by the Vinta Group, ranks highly as a sub-regional mall, with price expectations in excess of $400 million.
While separate offerings, the two malls underline the revival of retail property, which hit the doldrums during the initial wave of the pandemic two years ago as centres were closed, rental income plummeted and landlords slashed the value of their assets.
The sector has since stabilised as values rebased, unleashing a wave of pent-up activity that drove transactions to a record $12.7 billion in deals last year.
“That momentum has continued into 2022, with the comparative return profile for retail investments and significant asset value rebasing marking the retail sector as a compelling investment proposition,” said CBRE’s Simon Rooney, who has been appointed to broker Marketplace Gungahlin.
Tenants at the 40,000 sq m Canberra mall include discount department stores Woolworths, Kmart and Big W, along with seven mini-majors and 109 specialty tenancies. An extension due to be completed by next year will introduce a new Aldi supermarket.
“Marketplace Gungahlin is one of the best-performing, high-growth sub-regional assets to come to market in many years, with a thriving major tenancy profile and robust specialty component, trading at well above industry averages,” Mr Rooney said.
Further north, the regional Hyperdome mall is twice the size, anchored by Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, along with Kmart and Big W, and Event Cinemas.
Straddling a 44-hectare site, the Logan mall includes more than 13 hectares of ancillary land. CBRE’s Simon Rooney has separately been appointed to broker Hyperdome.
“QIC is currently engaged in a process with the intention of potentially divesting Hyperdome in Logan, which is jointly held by the QIC Property Fund and the QIC Town Centre Fund,” a QIC spokeswoman told The Australian Financial Review.
“As an active real estate manager, QIC is constantly strategically reassessing the holdings of our funds to capture optimal growth and return outcomes for our clients, and this proposed divestment is in line with client-endorsed strategies for QPF and QTCF.”
Among the major malls already in the market are Caneland Central in Queensland’s Mackay region, and a half stake in Adelaide’s Colonnades Shopping Centre.
Also at the big end are two stakes in Brisbane landmark Indooroopilly, held separately by a Dexus-run fund and the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.
