Developer Pays $12.3m for Riverwalk Town Centre

Development Victoria has sold the Riverwalk Town Centre for $12.3 million to international developer Oreana Group. 

The 3.01ha site is in the Riverwalk Estate, 35km south-west of the Melbourne CBD in Werribee.

Development Victoria, the state government’s development arm, has been developing housing, infrastructure and open space in the estate since 2011. 

Oreana will now develop the shopping centre for the estate, which has more than 2500 residents. 

Colliers Retail Investment Services directors Mike Crittenden and Tim McIntosh negotiated the sale and said competition had been “fierce”. 

“We experienced unprecedented enquiry on the Riverwalk Town Centre campaign from local, interstate and offshore developers, syndicators and owner-occupiers,” Crittenden said.

“Development interest has been driven by the ongoing strong demand by passive investors for shopping centre assets where supply remains extremely constrained.

“Metropolitan Melbourne shopping centres and sites remain at the top of investors' and developers' wish lists.”

Oreana’s property director Paul Bourchier said the combination of asset type and location in a growth corridor had been key. 

“The acquisition of this key town centre site underlines Oreana’s commitment to the delivery of quality local convenience-based projects in Melbourne’s growth corridor and will strengthen our substantial development portfolio,” Bourchier said.

Oreana Group has underlined its commitment to town and community centres as part of its portfolio with its first WA project: a community retail precinct and 91-place childcare centre in Perth’s northern suburb of Butler.

The precinct, which has now been approved by the WA government, is The Village Butler on a 4453sq m site at the corner of Marmion Avenue and Reflection Boulevard. 

Aspire Early Learning and Education will operate the childcare centre. 

Plans also include a gym, supermarket, cafe, restaurants, medical centre and allied health options. 

The precinct will serve the nearby communities of Alkimos and Jindalee. 

▲ A render of another of the Oreana Group's projects, The Village Butler community retail precinct in Butler in WA.

Infrastructure upgrades in the region include the recent $28-million road upgrade from Butler Boulevard to Yanchep and a direct link from Butler Boulevard to the Mitchell Freeway, which is due for completion in 2023.

Oreana Group co-founder and co-managing director Tony Sass said it was exciting for the company to be starting work on its first WA project.

“We look forward to working with local builders, retailers and service providers to deliver a project which the local community can be proud of,” Sass said.

“This is an important milestone for our business as it reflects the expansion of our portfolio at a national level into strong long-term growth markets such as Western Australia.”

Vend Property’s Joe Bergic has been appointed to handle expressions of interest around leasing arrangements for The Village Butler. 

“The Village Butler’s strategic corner-site positioning will garner terrific exposure for the precinct as around 34,000 cars pass the site daily, while its location within the City of Wanneroo in Perth’s thriving northern corridor will also see it benefit from solid population growth over the next few years,” Bergic said.

Colliers’ Tim McIntosh said town centres were a key commercial property asset for investors. 

“Town centres remain one of the most highly sought-after and best-in-class sub-sectors of commercial property, representing a defensive investment with attractive income growth for investors due to the heavily weighted income to non-discretionary national retailers,” McIntosh said.

“We have transacted more than $200 million of town centre assets in Victoria to institutional and private investors and retail developers in the past 12 months and see strong demand continuing for those centres with a resilient income profile.”