Sydney Investor Pays $62.75m for Gosford Retail Asset

A private Sydney investor has snapped up Gosford’s Imperial Centre for $62.75 million, the largest non-metro New South Wales neighbourhood shopping centre transaction since 2021.

The three-level, 16,769sq m retail centre is on a 1.55ha CBD site 200m from Gosford train station.

Anchored by Woolworths and BWS, the asset also includes 53 specialty tenants, six kiosks, 14 office suites, three mini majors and an ATM, providing diversified income streams.

The sale was handled by JLL’s Nick Willis, Sam Hatcher, David Mahood and Sebastian Fahey alongside Colliers’ James Wilson and Ben Wilkinson on behalf of vendor IP Generation. The competitive on-market campaign attracted more than 200 enquiries and seven formal bids.

Willis said the depth of buyer interest underscored “growing competition for retail assets in today’s market”, with limited supply and increasing investor confidence fuelling demand for neighbourhood centres with scale and redevelopment potential.

Concept plans by DKO Architects outline a major mixed-use project on the site, featuring 478 residential apartments. Wilson said this development upside was a key attraction for bidders, particularly given the centre’s location opposite the station and within Gosford’s evolving CBD.

According to Colliers, the campaign generated more than $300 million in unsatisfied capital from underbidders still seeking exposure to NSW neighbourhood centres.

Wilkinson said investors remained drawn to the resilience of convenience-based retail, describing the asset class as “recession-resistant”.

JLL’s Mahood said the transaction was the ninth NSW neighbourhood centre sale this year, with average bids per campaign lifting from four to seven.

“Opportunities to acquire these investments remain severely limited,” he said, and that current supply-demand imbalances were creating a “brief window” for owners to capitalise.

Private investors have dominated non-metro NSW neighbourhood centre acquisitions since 2019, as institutions target larger metropolitan assets. Nearly 80 per cent of buyers since 2023 have been private, attracted by defensive characteristics and limited new supply.

Sector insiders say the Imperial Centre deal reinforced the strength of the neighbourhood retail sector, with quality non-metro assets expected to remain tightly held and highly contested.

Brisbane neighbourhood centre changes hands

Reds Group has paid $32 million for Bluewater Square (pictured) at Redcliffe, about 28km by road north of the Brisbane CBD, after the neighbourhood shopping centre had been listed by Elanor Investors Group in August with a book value of $47 million.

The acquisition is a significant discount compared with the $55 million paid by a single asset fund managed by Alceon in 2017.

The 10,003sq m centre across two floors is anchored by Woolworths and includes a mini-major tenant, four offices, three medical centre tenancies, and 28 specialty stores.

The property holds development potential, including an approved scheme for a 104-unit residential tower in the airspace above the centre.

The sale was struck on a 6.36 per cent passing yield.

Marketing for Bluewater Square was managed jointly by JLL’s Jacob Swan and Ned McKendry, and Colliers’ James Wilson and Brendan Hogan.