Dexus pockets healthy $306m for outer Melbourne corporate park

After last week taking a hit on the sale of a Sydney office tower, Dexus has made a premium by offloading a business park in Melbourne.

Dexus has sold Axxess Corporate Park in Mount Waverley.

Property group Dexus has offloaded a major business park in suburban Melbourne above its book value, as it steps up the pace of its asset disposal program and shows that some premium properties are holding their values.

The Axxess Corporate Park in Mount Waverley was snapped up by funds house Gateway Capital, which is likely to redevelop part of the site to capitalise on its potential as a last-mile distribution hub.

The group paid about $306.2m for the complex and will seek to develop the site. The sale reflected a 7.4 per cent premium to the December 2022 independent valuation.

Dexus has been selling industrial assets and last year sold a $119m facility on Sydney’s lower north shore to a Gateway and Invesco joint venture.

The latest deal shows that properties which can be used for logistics are holding up, even as some city office towers fall in value. Dexus last week rocked the market when it sold a Sydney office tower at a 17 per cent discount to its December valuation.

Dexus said that together with the sale of 44 Market St it had secured combined sale proceeds of approximately $700m, representing an approximate average 8 per cent discount to their December independent valuations.

This transaction brings total divestments announced in this financial year to approximately $1.5bn.

The most recent sale provides confidence in the value of industrial assets, which have been boosted by rising rents and strong occupier demand, even in the face of rising interest rates and the slowing economy.

Gateway Capital undertook due diligence on the corporate park in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs last month.

Axxess sits in the heart of Mount Waverley’s hi-tech office and warehouse precinct and the 19.6ha corporate estate has development options for a new last-mile facility.

Gateway had been hunting for properties after unveiling a $1bn partnership with Cadillac Fairview, which is focused on urban core plus value add and development assets on the east coast markets.

A Cushman & Wakefield team led by Tony Iuliano brokered the latest deal.

Originally published as Dexus pockets healthy $306m for outer Melbourne corporate park