Anchor Tenant Woolworths Lists Queensland Shopping Centres

Supermarket giant Woolworths Group has put of its two recently completed large-format retail assets in Queensland up for sale while staying on as the anchor tenant.

The first is the 4981sq m Mountview Shopping Centre, 27km south-west of the Brisbane CBD.

Woolworths as the anchor tenant for the centre occupies 3846sq  m, 77 per cent of the gross lettable area.

Fully leased, the centre generates a net annual income of $1.7 million with a weighted average lease expiry of 8.4 years.

National retailers account for 80 per cent of the gross income.

It is close to greenfield residential projects Mountview Village, Eden Crossing and Fernbrooke Ridge.

The centre offers direct-to-boot retail and has 243 carparking spaces.  The Centenary Highway 1km south and a future train station and line are planned for nearby.

CBRE has opened an expressions-of-interest campaign for the centre, which closes on March 30, 2023, with Michael Hedger, Joe Tynan and James Douglas managing the sale.

“We are continuing to see new capital enter the market, particularly from the private sector seeking neighburhood centres that offer good investment fundamentals and are located in strong trade areas,” Tynan said.

Retail spending in the area is estimated to be $187 million and to increase to $456 million by 2041.

▲ The Gubuda-Gordonvale Shopping Centre near Cairns which Woolworths has listed with intentions to stay on as an anchor tenant.

Ther other is the 3849sq m Gubuda-Gordonvale Shopping Centre in Cairns.

The supermarket is staying on as an anchor tenant with a 3284sq m lease.

Net income for the centre is $1.29 million a year with a 9.0 weighted average lease expiry.

It occupies a high-profile 20,580sq m site on the Bruce Highway 18km south of Cairns. 

CBRE’s expressions-of-interest campaign for the site also closes on March 30, 2023, with Michael Hedger, Joe Tynan, James Douglas and Danny Betros managing the sale.

“Despite ongoing interest rate rises, the neighbourhood investment sector continues to be a highly sought-after asset class given the income profiles generally have a high weighting towards non-discretionary retailers and are underpinned by genuine growth,” Hedger said.

An additional 15,858sq m site across four separate lots will be sold at the same time.

Each of the four sites will have approvals in place for a range of uses including service stations and quick service retail facilities. 

“Our learnings from recent campaigns are that there is a flight for quality in the neighbourhood sector, particularly from private investors as they seek assets with long-term income security,” Tynan said.

There has been an increase in interest in investing in, selling and acquiring half or full stakes in shopping centres in recent months.