Half-Stake in Adelaide’s Biggest Retail Centre Comes to Market

A 50 per cent freehold interest in South Australia’s largest shopping centre is being offered to market by a Singapore-based private investment group.

The international expressions-of-interest campaign for the major Westfield shopping mall at Marion, 13km south-west of the Adelaide CBD, will be managed by commercial real estate companies CBRE and JLL.

CBRE head of retail and capital markets Simon Rooney told The Urban Developer the half-stake was acquired by Cuscaden Peak for $670 million in 2019.

“There’s plenty of interest, domestically and offshore,” he said.

“The Westfield Marion opportunity is underpinned by exceptional centre performance ... Adelaide’s compelling yield spread relative to Sydney and Melbourne, and South Australia’s favourable commercial stamp duty exemptions.

“Throughout 2025 we saw significant re-engagement from domestic and offshore institutional capital groups on major retail assets, willing to transact at competitive pricing levels for premium retail opportunities.”

The 2019 sale by Lendlease was to Singapore Press Holdings, one of the island nation’s two state media companies, before it was privatised in 2022 and its property portfolio sold to Cuscaden Peak.

Rooney said “fortress assets” of the calibre of Westfield Marion remained highly sought-after.

JLL executive director Retail Nick Willis said “super regional” shopping centres such as Westfield Marion were one of Australia’s most exclusive commercial real estate asset classes, with only 20 centres nationwide controlled by just 12 owner-managers.

“The sale of Westfield Marion is a rare opportunity to enter this sub-sector in one of Australia’s premier performing shopping centres,” he said.

“As global retail real estate experiences a significant resurgence, investors face constrained access to institutional-grade assets.” 

Australian retail transaction activity continued to increase in 2025 with about $12.7 billion in deals done. There has been significant liquidity for joint-venture regional shopping centre stakes, evidenced by 17 part-share transactions totalling $6.4 billion since 2024.

Westfield Marion occupies a 22.8ha freehold site at the junction of three major arterial roads. The property is zoned Urban Activity Centre, enabling potential short, medium and long-term mixed-use development opportunities.

The centre is jointly owned and managed by Scentre Group.

▲ Expressions of interest will soon be called for a 50 per cent stake in the 22.8ha Westfield Marion “super regional” centre in Adelaide’s south.

Comprising a total gross lettable area of about 138,000sq m, the centre is anchored by David Jones, Myer, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Kmart, Big W, Target, Harris Scarfe, Event Cinemas, Bunnings Warehouse and Dan Murphy’s.

The centre draws 12.5 million customers a year and caters to a trade area population of more than 522,000 residents, forecast to exceed 591,000 residents by 2046.

According to the sales team, retail spend in the trade area was $10.4 billion in 2025, forecast to increase by 3.9 per cent a year to 2046, reaching $13.0 billion.

In South Australia, no stamp duty is payable on commercial property acquisitions and there are no foreign owner land tax surcharges.