QIC Puts Stake in High-End WA Shopping Centre to Market

A major investor has put its half-stake in one of Perth’s premium retail assets on the market as the sector’s hot streak runs on.

QIC is putting its 50 per cent stake in Claremont Quarter, one of the WA capital’s premium shopping and lifestyle destination, on the block.

The move to divest follows about $1.2 billion in major shopping centre sales nationally since the start of 2023, according to CBRE.

There is $1 billion of transactions currently in play, including Lakeside Joondalup (50 per cent) and Westfield Whitford City, also in Western Australia, they said.

CBRE Pacific head of retail capital markets Simon Rooney and McVay Real Estate’s Sam McVay have been appointed to steer the sale process for Claremont Quarter as interest in Australian shopping centre investment opportunities rises.

Claremont Quarter is jointly owned by QIC and Hawaiian. The centre is on a 2.7ha site 9km south-west of the Perth CBD.

The asset has a gross lettable area of 29,800sq m and is anchored by David Jones, Coles and Jack’s Whole Foods & Groceries, supported by five mini-majors and 118 speciality stores and kiosks.

The tenancy profile includes a range of leading retailers such as Zimmermann and Sass & Bide and international luxury lifestyle brands including Chanel and Georg Jensen.

Rooney said the WA retail market had “robust underlying fundamentals” including population growth, booming commodity prices, strong residential value growth, higher levels of disposable income compared to the national average and a relatively affordable cost of living.

▲ Claremont Quarter is in its namesake blue-ribbon suburb in Perth’s south-west.

“There are limited opportunities to add supply, particularly as the construction labour market remains tight,” Rooney said.

“Pricing for real estate in Perth is also attractive in an Australian context. We expect investment activity will remain elevated with multiple large retail assets currently in play, in what traditionally has been one of the more tightly held markets in Australia.”

He said he expected the stake in Claremont Quarter to be competitively contested by a range of domestic and offshore groups “given the centre’s standing within the surrounding retail hierarchy, turnover performance, attractive investment fundamentals, secure tenancy profile and strategic location within one of Perth’s most affluent catchments”.

McVay said Claremont Quarter Laneway project, constructon of which got under way last month, marked a significant milestone for the asset and would add to its appeal.

The share is being sold by an expressions-of-interest campaign that the agents said was expected to close in mid to late August.