Central Coast Sale Completes Dexus’ Retail Sale Trifecta

Dexus has completed a trifecta of sub-regional shopping centres sales with the divestment of a centre on NSW’s Central Coast.

Dexus Wholesale Property Fund has sold the Deepwater Plaza in Woy Woy for $112 million.

It has now sold three centres in as many months after it offloaded centres in Beenleigh, Queensland; and Shepparton, Victoria.

Deepwater Plaza is the only sub-regional centre of its size on the Central Coast of NSW. With more than 15,000sq m of retail space, the centre is home to Coles, Kmart, Best & Less, Service NSW and more than 45 specialty stores.

The sale, on a yield of 6.5 per cent, to a local investment firm brings the $15-billion fund’s sale total across the three assets to $285 million.

Settlement is expected in the first quarter of next year.

Fund manager Michael Sheffield said the divestments of these assets “continues the implementation of the fund’s strategy to hold larger regional retail assets”.

The sales began in October when the Shepparton Marketplace was sold to Metro Holdings for $88.1 million on a 6.25 per cent yield.

The centre is a single-level sub-regional shopping centre about 200km north of Melbourne.

Anchored by Woolworths and Big W and supported by 33 specialty and service stores, Shepparton Marketplace is the largest, fully enclosed shopping precinct within Shepparton with more than 14,500sq m of retail space.

Earlier this month it sold the Beenleigh Marketplace south of Brisbane for $85 million to Mintus on a yield of 6.75 per cent.

▲ The sale of the centre in Woy Woy completes a trifecta of transactions for the fund.

The centre is within the Beenleigh town centre next to transport links and has more than 20,000sq m of retail space.

It is anchored by Big W and Woolworths as well as more than 50 speciality stores. 

All three were negotiate by CBRE’s Simon Rooney.

Fund manager Michael Sheffield said the divestments of these assets “continues the implementation of the fund’s strategy to hold larger regional retail assets”.

Dexus was not alone in moving on sub-regional retail assets in the latter stages of this year: Lendlease sold three centres, in WA, NSW and Queensland in deals totalling more than $520 million.

HMC Capital Managed Funds acquired from Lendlease’s Sub-Regional Retail Fund two centres, Southlands Boulevarde in Perth, for $92.5 million, and Menai Marketplace, Sydney, for $150m, for a total of $242.5 million, while Sentinel Property Group scooped up Mackay’s Caneland Central Shopping Centre, Queensland, with management rights for $280 million.

The acquisition bolsters Sentinel’s $1 billion-plus commercial real estate portfolio in northern Australia and takes its investment in retail centres during 2022 to more than $700 million.