Two Major Sydney Industrial Sites Sell for $50m

Two industrial sales in Sydney underscore the demand for quality assets including both exisiting industrial facilities and land for future development.

Goodman Group has purchased a 2.3 hectare industrial site in Sydney's south at Corish Circle, Banksmeadow in the Port Botany industrial precinct for $25.2 million.

The cleared industrial land is likely to be leased out by Goodman to a concrete company. The deal was brokered by Tim Cassidy from Cushman & Wakefield, adding the Banksmeadow site to Goodman's $34 billion global portfolio of industrial property.

The site was part of a $70 million sale of three Masters properties for the vendor, The Home Investment Consortium.

Property investment and development company Leda Holdings has sold a Wetherill Park industrial facility at 484 Victoria Street for $24.8 million, representing the first sale of a portfolio of six properties it purchased earlier this year.

The portfolio known as the "Sydney Six" was purchased by Leda for $71 million in May following a competitive sale campaign, with strong interest in the fully leased portfolio.

[Related reading: 'Sydney Six' Industrial Portfolio Heralds Record Pricing Result]The portfolio comprised four Wetherill Park assets, a Smithfield property and an Eastern Creek site – boasting a total NLA of 45,850sq m and an annual income of $4.82 million.

All six assets were 100 per cent leased, with the portfolio offering a WALE of 1.95 years at the date of exchange.

The property, underpinned by a 22,770 square metre site, has a short-term lease to Vivin Imports. Upon lease expiry the purchaser, a private owner-occupier, will occupy the property.

CBRE's brokering agent Elijah Shakir said the off market transaction was testament to Leda’s foresight in capitalising on the owner occupier market as each individual building's WALE drew closer to expiry.

“Achieving this strong, off market result in a short period of time is a clear indication of the level of demand for quality assets in the $20 million plus range,” Shakir said.

“The metropolitan area west of Sydney has been a hive of activity for larger corporate owner occupiers, with a number of purchase mandates continuing to run through the market.”

The sales follow other recent transactions in the past quarter, including 150 McCredie Road, Smithfield to Hong Australia for $23 million and 17 Jumal Place, Smithfield to an offshore investor for $19.9 million.

A recent report by CBRE highlighted that much of Sydney's industrial stock was held by institutional investors and large private owners and that Sydney's super prime net effective rents now attract a 90 per cent premium compared to Melbourne.

[Related reading: Melbourne and Sydney Industrial Rental Gap Widens to 90%]Goodman Group have reaffirmed their forecast for the 2018 financial year of a six per cent growth in operating earnings per security to 45.71¢.