NZ investor Ben Cook sells Bondi Beach shops for $31m
Prominent New Zealand property investor Ben Cook looks set to make a healthy capital gain on a row of Bondi Beach shops after selling 14 of them to local investors for a combined $30.8 million on a yield of 5.3 per cent.
Mr Cook, the owner of Auckland-based Cook Property whose portfolio includes numerous Countdown supermarkets and a number of Bunnings warehouses in both New Zealand and Australia, paid $31.3 million seven years ago for the Beach House Lane retail centre when he bought it from Melbourne-based developer and investor GLG on a 5.9 per cent yield.
With one final shop to be sold in 2024 once a new tenant is announced, selling agent Michael Collins from Stonebridge said total sales would exceed $36 million.
This would generate a capital gain of about 15 per cent, a relatively strong result in a market where many retail properties, especially those with a high proportion of discretionary retail tenants, are going backwards in value.
Tenants of the 1166 sq m arcade, which runs from beachfront facing Campbell Parade to Curlewis Street, include Aesop, Seafolly, Sonoma Bakery, Tuchuzy and General Pants Co. Leases ranging from less than a year to nearly five years.
One investor purchased three shops for $10.5 million at an average yield of 4.68 per cent, another bought two for $5.4 million on a yield of 5.4 per cent and a family group acquired another two for $5.9 million on a 5.2 per cent yield.
The remainder were sold individually. Each shop comes with at least one basement car park.
Mr Cook, who has appeared on New Zealand rich lists in the past, is considered one of the country’s most astute property investors.
He purchased a Bunnings in Sydney’s Eastgardens for a then record $56 million in 2015 and a Woolworths supermarket in Potts Point the following year.
Mr Collins, a co-founder of Stonebridge, said investors were comfortable purchasing premium assets below the cost of debt,
“This is especially true for those assets deemed intergenerational holdings,” he said.
“We also note that a significant proportion of the buyer pool is utilising vast cash reserves to finance their investments and are therefore sheltered from interest rate increases.
“These investors are purely seeking a regular and secure income stream with compounding income growth,” Mr Collins said.
Alongside selling the row of Bondi shops on behalf of Mr Cook, Stonebridge has also sold a number of regional retail assets.
These include an Aldi supermarket in Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands, which was bought by a Melbourne family for $12.35 million on a 5.1 per cent yield. The campaign to sell the Aldi building generated 14 offers to purchase.
Stonebridge also sold a KFC fast food outlet in Townsville for $4.2 million on a 4.5 per cent yield, and an Oporto restaurant in Bundaberg for $3.8 million on a 4.6 per cent yield.
“High net worth private groups continue to follow household name brands and secure tenant covenants, irrespective of location and are happy to buy in strong regional economies, hubs and tourist hot spots,” Mr Collins said.
“These high-net-worth individuals view property as a long-term investment vehicle comparable to other asset classes such as government bonds, corporate bonds and the like.”
