Burgess Rawson auctions BWS building in Townsville

A flurry of bids during the auction of a local retail building has highlighted Townsville’s attractiveness for southern investors.

Michael Hooper and Neville Smith from Burgess Rawson at the Belgian Gardens BWS. Picture: Evan Morgan

A flurry of bids during the auction of the BWS retail building in Belgian Gardens has highlighted Townsville’s attractiveness as a place for southern investors to park their money.

Earlier this year, the owner of the retail building at 51-53 Bundock Street, Belgian Gardens, approached Burgess Rawson Townsville partner Neville Smith to take his property to market.

Positioned in an “affluent area” on a high exposure corner where 30,000 vehicles passed daily, Mr Smith said there was plenty going for the property, which had been tenanted by BWS since 2017.

Before taking the property to auction, his first order of business was to sign sitting tenant BWS to a renewed five year lease, with five further five year options, stretching to 2053.

BWS was owned by Endeavour Group, Australia’s largest hotelier and liquor retailer, with 339 ALH hotels, 1,761 Dan Murphy’s/ BWS stores and a market capitalisation of $11.30 billion, which created investor certainty that they were in it for the long haul.

He said the owner was a “little bit reserved” given that auctions weren’t the traditional way for most properties being sold in North Queensland.

Michael Hooper and Neville Smith from Burgess Rawson at the Belgian Gardens BWS. Picture: Evan Morgan

“We convinced him that on the back of what Burgess was and did and the success of Burgess Rawson’s auction portfolios, that the property would be highly sought after, given the demands from the investment market,’ Mr Smith said.

“That resulted in over 140 inquiries and on the day, we had 11 registered bidders, resulting into an outcome, which saw 60 plus bids on the day for the property.

“(We achieved) what is probably one of the tightest yields so far to date for Townsville in 2023 at 4.41 per cent net.”

The property was sold on June 22 for an undisclosed price to a southern investor who didn’t wish to be named.

“The investor knew that the long-term appetite to remain in that property was cemented, and its (products were) an essential part of our everyday life, for most,” he said.

“I think (the auction result) very much reaffirms what I saw in joining the Burgess Rawson team, is that Townsville is a very safe place to invest their money.

“(The investor) had no hesitation on the back end of our economic drivers to be quite aggressive in acquiring that property.”

Mr Smith said the city was thriving, with Burgess Rawson’s local office involved in over $200 million worth of transactions since opening in late 2022.

Originally published as Burgess Rawson auctions BWS building in Townsville