Sentinel Secures Huge Port Of Newcastle Site For $31 Million

Sentinel Property Group has acquired a major industrial property at the Port of Newcastle, set on a large 40ha site featuring approximately 12ha of under roof industrial accommodation across multiple buildings and presenting significant future development potential.

The property was acquired by Sentinel for $31 million in a sale and leaseback with ASX-listed mining and materials company Arrium, which will continue to occupy 100% of the established buildings on a 12-year lease with further options.

The Lot 225 Industrial Drive Property at Mayfield, Newcastle is prominently located within the Port of Newcastle precinct - the world's largest coal export port by volume and the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast of Australia.

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The multiple buildings onsite total 121,000sqm of lettable area incorporating high clearance office/warehouse accommodation and benefit from active rail spurs.

Sentinel Managing Director Warren Ebert said the property's current low site coverage of approximately 30% presents significant long-term development opportunity for Sentinel.

He said the Newcastle property is the first asset for the new open-ended pooled Sentinel Industrial Trust, which will focus on securing large well-located industrial properties in substantial landholdings providing for a future development pipeline.

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The Sentinel Industrial Trust has a forecast minimum investor distribution of 9.5%. The investor capital raising for the Newcastle acquisition closed over-subscribed within days of release, with further opportunities to invest in the Trust to be made available as more properties are purchased.

"The Sentinel Industrial Trust is our second open-end pooled Trust following on from the success of the Sentinel Countrywide Retail Trust, launched late last year and now comprising seven retail property assets valued at more than $100 million," Mr Ebert said.

[urbanRelatedPost][/urbanRelatedPost]"Our Newcastle property is an outstanding first asset for the Sentinel Industrial Trust, strategically positioned in one of the key industrial locations on Australia's east coast, underpinned by a long-term lease to an ASX-listed company and with strong future development upside."Brisbane-based Sentinel has been one of Australia's most active private buyers of commercial property since it was established in 2010. The company has amassed a national property portfolio of 33 retail, industrial, office and land assets in QLD, NSW and VIC and is closing in on $1 billion in total assets under management.

Mr Ebert said Sentinel was pleased to be expanding its property presence into Newcastle as it already holds a number of properties in the surrounding Central Coast/Hunter Valley region.

Sentinel's existing assets in the region include a major industrial facility, the national headquarters of Husqvarna located at Tuggerah, a Coles shopping centre at Tanilba Bay near Port Stephens; a Coles shopping centre in Rutherford; and the Hunter Supa Centre large format retail centre in Rutherford.

"Newcastle is the economic hub of this region, with multiple drivers of future growth including large-scale mining and export industries, agriculture, development, government services, education and tourism. The Newcastle City Centre is also the focus of a $460 million urban renewal project which is currently underway," Mr Ebert said.

"The property we have secured within the strategic Port of Newcastle precinct provides us with a prominent position and value-add opportunity to capitalise on the future growth forecast for the region. The site is zoned 'Special Activities' which aims to maximise the use of the waterfront area to accommodate the development of industrial, maritime, freight and bulk storage premises that benefit from being located close to the port facilities."