HomeCo Daily Needs REIT has sold Epping Hub to Forza Capital and Enclave Living/Jayland for a combined $70.25 million. The off-market deal was brokered by JLL’s Stuart Taylor and Tom Noonan.
The asset located on the corner of High Street and Cooper Street in Epping, 22km north of the Melbourne CBD is a strategic Large Format Retail Centre, anchored by tenants such as Officeworks and Chemist Warehouse.
The 9.124ha land holding, comprises a 7.484ha Large Format Retail asset, providing 30 tenancies, a GLA of 22,038m2 and a WALE of 1.7 years was purchased by Forza Capital, in addition to a 1.6ha vacant parcel of land ripe for immediate development acquired by Jayland.
JLL’s Stuart Taylor said, “The sale of Epping Hub confirms the ability to achieve strong pricing outcomes for well-located retail assets, especially those in metropolitan locations, which are considered to be ‘land-rich’.”
“The sale continues the theme of non-traditional retail investors entering the sector, attracted to the ability to drive value further via development strategies and introduction of alternative uses,” said Taylor.
Sid Sharma, HomeCo Daily Needs REIT CEO said, “The sale price of the asset was at a 2% premium to book value. This transaction continues to showcase the high demand within our subsector and the high-quality nature of our assets.”
Ashley Wain, Director of Forza Capital said, “The Epping property was identified as a strategic landholding, with low site coverage and planning controls that supports more intensive mixed-use development.”
“Forza Capital raised $48 million in equity from its client base of high net worth investors and intends to embark on a strategic overhaul of the asset including the construction of additional floor space and improvements to the tenancy mix,” said Wain.
Over in Melbourne’s southeast, JLL’s Stuart Taylor, Tom Noonan and MingXuan Li have also been appointed to run the Public Expression of Interest campaign of Village Lakeside Shopping Centre on behalf of MPG Funds Management Ltd, who own the asset in their MPG Retail Brands Property Trust.
MPG Funds Management offers Village Lakeside Shopping Centre to market via JLL
Village Lakeside Shopping Centre is located within the established suburb of Pakenham within the southeast growth corridor of metropolitan Melbourne. The centre provides a highly desirable offering, anchored by a strong-performing Coles supermarket, and supported by 10 non-discretionary specialty stores.
The 3,654m2 neighbourhood shopping centre occupies a highly strategic 11,220m2 parcel of land, zoned Comprehensive Development Zone, and provides more than 180 at-grade car spaces on title.
The centre is located within Pakenham’s prized Princes Highway retail precinct, immediately adjoining ALDI and Dan Murphy’s and sits adjacent to Bunnings, Officeworks and HomeCo Pakenham, providing enormous retail draw power.
Village Lakeside Shopping Centre is set to test investor demand in the hotly contested neighbourhood shopping centre market
“We are anticipating significant interest in the asset, with non-discretionary or convenience-focused shopping centres continuing to attract the deepest and most competitive buyer pool within the retail property sector,” said Taylor.
“Village Lakeside Shopping Centre provides investors with an attractive, inflation-hedged income growth profile, with Coles Supermarket currently paying percentage rent, with the balance of tenants providing annual reviews linked to CPI or a fixed percentage,” he said.
Noonan added, “The asset provides a highly defensive income profile, underpinned by a strong performing Coles Supermarket, with a tenancy mix which is exclusively food/grocery, medical or packaged liquor.”
Village Lakeside Shopping Centre is located within Pakenham’s prized Princes Highway retail precinct
Servicing a well-established and expanding trade area of 40,000 residents, and boasting an impressive robust annual compounding growth rate of 1.3%, reflecting an increase of 11,200 persons between 2022 and 2041 to reach 50,970 persons.
The centre is expected to further benefit from the impressive expanding retail expenditure within the trade area of $601.3 million, which is forecast to grow by an exceptional 3.8% p.a. to reach $1.21 billion by 2041.
