The Latrobe Super Centre, located on entry to Moe’s Town Centre and opposite the Moe Racing Club in Victoria’s Gippsland region has hit the market for public sale in what is anticipated to be one of the more highly sought-after investment products in the current market due to the strong underlying attributes it presents potential investors with.
The Latrobe Super Centre offers investors the rare opportunity to enter the tightly held Latrobe Valley large-format retail sector. Assets such as these are highly attractive as they offer investors a very secure covenant (mostly ASX listed) on long leases and relatively low rents for future upside.
The Latrobe Super Centre is a freestanding large format retail (LFR) centre secured by long leases to three national retailers; Super Cheap Auto, The Reject Shop and Pets Domain; all of these have long and relatively new leases with a combined WALE of 7.45 Years.
Stonebridge Property Group’s Rorey James and Kevin Tong together with Wilson Property’s Ben Wilson and Melissa Van Berkel have been appointed to run the public expressions of interest campaign, with the vendor being advised by Mark Wizel of Advise Transact.
Rorey James said: “The rental levels at the Latrobe Super Centre are extremely affordable at an average rate of $157 per sqm, especially in comparison to other similar assets in the region.”
“Pets Domain as part of this offering are leasing the premises at just over $100 per sqm on a Gross Basis, investors will be able to work out the math for themselves in relation to this,” James said.
The freestanding commercial 1 zoned corner site is spread over 3,604m2 of land and benefits from having access to ample at-grade car parking with a higher-than-usual number of car spaces directly in front of the shops.
“Latrobe Super Centre has always been occupied by national retail tenants and is surrounded by ALDI, Mitre 10 Hardware & Bottlemart. Furthermore, the asset gets plenty of foot traffic being opposite the newly developed Moe Train Station and across the road from the Moe Racing Club. The prime position is further highlighted by the tenant’s recent lease renewals acknowledging their commitment to the location.”
Ben Wilson added: “Regional assets are constantly in high demand, more so post-COVID, as population growth in regional locations increases. Demand for goods, services and amenities has increased significantly in rural areas sparking interest from businesses to open or grow to satisfy this increase, the tenants at Latrobe Super Centre are absolutely perfect for the primary and secondary catchment of customers”
Tong added that prospective purchasers would benefit from a significant 50% reduction in stamp duty for commercial properties purchased across regional Victoria. The State Government concession includes transactions entered into on or after January 1, 2021
“The long and short of it is, if you buy a commercial property in regional Victoria you get 50% off your stamp duty and that is going to be worth quite a significant amount of money.’’
“It’s a nice little bonus for investors in addition to the annual fixed increases in each lease plus the strong potential the property provides for significant rental growth in the near future,” he said.
The Latrobe Super Centre is offered for sale by way of a Public Expressions of Interest Campaign Closing on the 1st December 2022.
