Panthera Snaps Up Sunland’s Retail Strip for $46m

NSW-based developer Panthera Group has paid $45.8 million for Sunland Group’s retail development precinct The Lanes in the Gold Coast suburb of Mermaid Waters.

The 12,500sq m shopping village, approved in February, will feature retail laneways interwoven with a fresh food market hall, cafes, restaurants, medical centre, office space, lifestyle entertainment, and a lakeside communal space.

It forms the centrepiece of Sunland’s 42ha masterplanned development on the corner of Hooker Boulevard and Southport-Burleigh Road where the developer is delivering four residential towers at a cost of $230 million.

Panthera Group chief executive Chakyl Camal said under the terms of the agreement, overseen by Hitch Advisory and Hickey Lawyers, the original design intent for the creation of the retail precinct would be upheld throughout its development phase.

“We are totally aligned with Sunland Group’s vision for the proposed precinct which underpins our philosophy of creating engaging spaces,” Camal said.

“We will create strong connections with all stakeholders to enhance the village experience as a digitally enabled precinct; creating a convenient service and lifestyle hub for retailers, residents and the local community.”

The deal follows a number of property sales in the locale in recent months, including three lots from Sunland’s adjacent residential development of the same name for $48.75 million, of which more than $9 million was tabled as profit.

However, Sunland expects profits from its sale to Panthera to be around $26.3 million, with the land purchased also including the development’s central lake.

Sunland said the NSW-based Panthera Group had the ability to bring settlement forward otherwise it was expected by March 2022.

Sunland managing director Sahba Abedian said the decision to sell the retail village allotment was part of the company’s overall strategy to sell undeveloped sites.

“Countless hours have gone into ensuring the terms of the contract upholds the original vision for the precinct and we believe Panthera Group is the ideal group to bring this unique development to life,” Abedian said.

“With nearly 100,000 cars passing the site daily and 200,000 people living within a 10-minute drive, The Lanes will be a unique and highly visible community and Panthera Group have a rare opportunity to create an iconic retail and lifestyle destination.”

The sale is part of a broader strategy, announced in October 2020, for Sunland to offload some inventory that is not under development in order to pay off debt and return money to shareholders.

At the time Sunland set a goal to return shareholders the net asset value at the time of $2.56 per share.

Sunland began the retail selldown in mid 2019, offloading its Lakeview Retail Centre in Mermaid Waters to Bao Li Investments for $20 million after listing the retail asset earlier this year.