Central Queensland shopping centre sells for $28million

THE sale of Keppel Bay Plaza attracted 55 inquiries and six offers.

THE sale of Keppel Bay Plaza attracted 55 inquiries and six offers, but the centre is set to change hands to Real Asset Management services group (RAMs) for a cool $28.1 million.

Peter Rossi, involved in the CBRE campaign to sell the centre - with a gross lettable area of 6455sqm and 21 specialty shops - said the Sydney-based RAMs viewed Yeppoon as a location with strong economic promise.

Mr Rossi said the company was a new on-shore investment manager, targeting direct real estate acquisitions on behalf of "sophisticated off-shore capital".

"This is their first retail asset," Mr Rossi said yesterday.

"It is a good retail and services centre... there is a reasonable yield for a centre like this... around 8.4%."

The centre started trading in 1978, was most recently bought by White and Partners for $28 million in 2007 and was refurbished with a new floor plan in 2013.

During the major revamp, the centre had its car park extended and its ceiling upgraded.

The newly constructed Star Liquor Warehouse and a revitalised Railway Hotel are also included in the centre.

Mr Rossi said he thought RAMs would continue to manage the centre and "build on its strengths".

And that is exactly what Yeppoon's Ann Healy wants.

The owner of Enchantments, located in the Keppel Bay Plaza centre, said she had concerns over the prospect of a new owner but was trying to stay positive.

"I am in trepidation for what it means to us," she said.

"We are just scraping by at the moment, so we hope they are kind to us. It is a pretty challenging environment at the moment.

"We hope they will support us and help us through, we can certainly do with some more promotions.

"I am pretty flexible and resilient in my little corner... the financial climate at the moment is certainly continuing to project onto a downturn because of the mining industry, retail feels that very keenly and I am just hoping the next owners take that in mind."

Originally published as Central Queensland shopping centre sells for $28million