RetailClare BurnettFri 02 Oct 26
Sub-Regional 1980s Ballarat Shopping Centre Hits the Market
A regional Ballarat shopping centre centred around a Victorian-era building is on the market for the first time in 30 years.
The Central Square Ballarat Shopping Centre, anchored by Myer and Target, is up for sale.
The centre, which has 23,373sq m of retail space and sits on a 12,428sq m commercial zoned landholding, was built around the historic Sturt Street building which dates to circa 1870.
The rest of Central Square was developed in 1988.
Stonebridge Property Group Retail Investments has been appointed to manage the expressions of interest campaign.
Myer and Target collectively account for nearly 70 per cent of the centre’s lettable area, and Myer is on “exceptionally low rent” according to Stonebridge Property Group national partner Justin Dowers.
“[And there are] multiple opportunities to grow income through active releasing, remixing and repositioning,” he said.
The shopping centre is 90.4 per cent occupied, generating $1.81 million of passing net income a year. If fully leased, this would rise to $2.93 million.
There are 36 specialty stores as well as kiosks and offices, with gross specialty rent at $661 per square metre.
“It is one of the city’s most recognisable retail properties, and opportunities to acquire a CBD shopping centre of this scale, anchored by both Myer and Target, rarely come to market,” Dowers said.
Ballarat’s population is expected to grow from 121,050 in 2024 to an estimated 164,365 by 2046, while retail sales in Australia are near $443 billion according to CBRE, 54 per cent higher than the $287 billion spent in 2015.
Occupancy cost ratios in regional and sub-regional shopping centres are lower than pre-2020 levels, CBRE said, with the reduction most noticeable in Fashion and Services categories.
In those segments, median cost ratios have declined by about 2.5 per cent, creating scope for specialty rents to re-grow over time, the agents said.
Sub-regional shopping centres are becoming increasingly attractive to investors.
Despite their scarcity on the market, as well as being difficult to replicate, they carry the lowest capital value per square metre of any shopping format, according to Stonebridge, trading at an average of $5335 per square metre in the full year 2025-6.
Investment returns for regional shopping centres are expected to double to approximately 9 per cent per annum, led by rent growth, CBRE said.
