Stockland has divested the Wallsend Shopping Centre in Newcastle for $81 million.
The 12,000sqm shopping centre, anchored by Coles and Aldi supermarkets, is positioned on a 42,114sqm site 11km west of the Newcastle CBD. The sale is in line with the Stockland book value of $81 million.
Originally built in 1988, the centre includes 37 specialty stores, including three kiosks, one office, five ATMs and one McDonald’s pad site, reinforcing the convenience and non-discretionary nature of the asset.
CBRE’s Nick Willis, who transacted the property on behalf of Stockland, said the sale highlighted growing investment demand for shopping centres across NSW.
“There has been an increase in enquiry for retail investments over the past six months, largely driven by a lack of quality available supply,” Mr Willis said.
“With core metropolitan markets still highly sought after, we have noticed a shift in investor demand looking to strong regional locations in pursuit of greater returns. Shopping centres that offer strong growth potential via income or future development are highly sought after.”
CBRE’s NSW Retail Investments team has completed over $156 million worth of shopping centre transactions in the past four months, including Coles Earlwood on behalf of Charter Hall for a record yield of 4.2% - a 24% premium on its book value.
Underpinning the investment demand for regional assets has been a lower supply pipeline of new shopping centres being offered to the market across NSW.
According to CBRE Research, just over 12,000sqm of new space is forecast for delivery in 2018 – well below the long-term average of 47,500sqm.
Retail trade performance across NSW has grown 3.2% year on year, driven primarily by the food & beverage sector, which lifted 4.5% in the 12 months to April 2018.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2017 revenue). The company has more than 80,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through more than 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
