Sydney-based boutique fund manager Whistle Funds Management has sold the Tannum Central Shopping Centre near Gladstone in Queensland for $18.5 million at a 4.9% yield.  

Built in 2004, Tannum Central offered 4,403 sqm of gross floor area and was anchored by a 2,591 sqm Coles supermarket and 14 specialty tenancies.  

The centre serviced the dual township of Tannum Sands and Boyne Island, which were located 25 kilometres south of Gladstone. The group originally acquired the centre in 2011. 

Whistle Funds Management Managing Director Andrew Vize said the group investment strategy had been to invest in daily-needs retail assets in counter-cyclical markets.  

“With these divestments we sought to capitalise on the current favourable market conditions crystalising significant value uplift in addition to strong income through the holding period of each fund,” Vize said.  

The deal follows other recent divestments by the group, including a freestanding Woolworths supermarket in Narrabri in NSW, as well as the Coles-anchored Highfields Plaza near Toowoomba, which also sold at record yields of 4.4% and 4.86% respectively. 

Savills’ Peter Tyson and Jon Tyson handled the off-market deal on behalf of the vendor. 

Peter Tyson said Tannum Central sold quickly to a local private investor, following a short off-market sale process and reflected another record yield outcome. 

“Neighbourhood retail assets remain popular across the country and this result reflects the strong demand for the asset class,” Jon Tyson said.  

Other retail deals in Queensland include the sale of the Emu Park Village shopping centre near Rockhampton for $17.95 million recently, reflecting a 5.47% yield. 

SCA Property Group purchased the Brassall Shopping Centre in Ipswich for $46.5 million and the Port Village Shopping Centre in Port Douglas for $36 million a week ago.   

Last month, ISPT purchased the Caloundra Village retail centre on the Sunshine Coast, while QIC recently settled on the sale of its half stake in the Westfield Helensvale shopping centre on the Gold Coast for $185 million.