Centuria subsidiary Primewest has bought a Woolworths-anchored retail centre under construction in Sydney from Fridcorp for $41.5 million, marking its latest convenience retail acquisition.
Primewest purchased the Hurstville Retail Centre located at 93 Forest Road in Hurstville at a 4.77% passing yield.
On completion, the 4,240 sqm centre will be fully-leased and provide a 13.3-year weighted average lease expiry (WALE).
The centre will be located within the $700 million residential-led mixed-use development, Beyond Hurstville, and will include more than 550 apartments.
A Fridcorp spokesperson said the vendor did not initially intend to divest of the asset, but strong market conditions with compressing cap-rates made the decision to sell compelling.
Primewest Head of Retail Bruce McCully said they were strategically targeting retail investment properties that were underpinned by resilient tenant covenants.
“This includes daily needs centres that cater to non-discretional spending, gateway centres with a captive audience, and high-performing specialised assets,” McCully said.
Primewest has recently acquired the Northgate Shopping Centre in Geraldton, WA for $71.2 million; the $14.3 million Woolworths-anchored daily needs retail precinct within Potts Point’s OMNIA mixed-used development; and the Coles-anchored $33.75 million Byford Village Shopping Centre in WA.
The Hurstville deal adds to adds to Primewest’s existing $313.3 million convenience daily needs retail portfolio mandate.
“We will continue to expand our retail platform and believe, as vaccination rates increase across the nation and lockdown restrictions lift, retail spending will be more top of mind with consumers, especially in the lead-up to the festive season,” McCully said.
Primewest merged with the ASX-listed Centuria Capital Group earlier this year.
Stonebrige Property Group’s Philip Gartland, Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong exclusively sold the Hurstville property.
The convenience retail deal comes after SCA Property Group and GIC teamed up to create a $750 million joint venture to invest in Australian metropolitan convenience retail centres earlier this month.
Charter Hall Retail REIT also acquired a 49% stake in a portfolio of 20 Ampol fuel and convenience retail centres for $50.5 million this month.
Other retail deals include AMP Capital’s recent transactions totalling $758.9 million to take over the Macquarie Centre in New South Wales, while partnering with UniSuper and Cbus Property to take control of Pacific Fair in Queensland.
Link REIT acquired a 50% stake in three retail properties in Sydney for $538.2 million, while Vicinity Centres purchased a 50% stake in the Gold Coast’s Harbour Town outlet centre from a Lendlease-managed fund for $358 million.