Melbourne, 7 October 2014 – Arguably the most iconic Bunnings Warehouse in Australia, located in the coastal New South Wales Town of Ballina, has been sold for $21,300,000 to a private investor based from South Australia.
The 10,928sqm Bunnings store has gathered a strong following due to its relationship with Ballina’s famous ‘Big Prawn’, which was recently fully refurbished by Bunnings and sold on title with the property.
CBRE Directors Mark Wizel and Justin Dowers acted on behalf of Bunnings and confirmed that buyer interest was very strong, as in previous Bunnings Warehouse sale campaigns.
“Whilst we would like to think it was the role of the Big Prawn in the sale, it became evident very quickly that the chronic lack of premium grade, retail investment properties offered for sale to investors was the ultimate driver,” CBRE’s Mr Dowers said.
The sale was transacted on a very tight passing yield of just over 6.7%. CBRE’s Mr Wizel said.
“We have been involved in the sale of nine Bunnings Warehouse properties over the past 20 months and we have been progressively witnessing more buyer enquiries on each campaign,” Mr Wizel said.
“There are not too many asset classes where private investors compete at virtually the same pricing as institutional investors, but this has certainly been evident in the case of the Bunnings properties.”
The Ballina transaction closely follows the sale of a Bunnings Warehouse in Hastings for $15,160,000, representing a yield of 6.5%, to a Victorian-based syndicator. Other Bunnings sales have included individual warehouses as far afield as Burnie in Tasmania and Mentone in Victoria.
“Investor appetite does not seem to be impacted by the traditional fundamentals of regional versus metropolitan locations,” Mr Wizel said.
“This is a true testament to the Bunnings brand, its operations as a retailer and the confidence they have to enter new markets knowing that consumers will follow.”
For Australian/international news or global stories, follow us on Twitter.
