Super A-Mart founder John Van Lieshout pays $17.5m for Macgregor retail centre

One of Queensland’s richest men John Van Lieshout has expanded his empire to now own 6 hectares around one southside suburb.

Billionaire and Super A-Mart founder John Van Lieshout has increased his holdings in a popular southside large format precinct with the purchase of a retail centre.

The Queensland richlister paid $17.5m for the property at 520 Kessels Road, Macgregor, making him the largest landowner in the precinct with 6ha of adjoining properties.

Underpinned by nine national and international tenants in the furniture, automotive, fitness and entertainment industries including Snooze, Mercedes Benz and Oz Design Furniture, it has 8174sq m of lettable area and is on a 1.11ha regular-shaped site with 125 car parks.

Knight Frank’s Christian Sandstrom, who struck the deal with Justin Bond on behalf of a private family, said the expressions of interest campaign generated more than 110 inquiries from local and interstate investors for the fully occupied property.

“Properties in this sought-after location, in the heart of the Kessels Road commercial and retail precinct, are rarely offered for sale, so buyers were keen to seize on the opportunity to purchase the asset,” he said.

“Aside from the location, investors were looking to capitalise on the diverse tenant profile of the fully leased property, as well as the weighted average lease expiry of 3.84 years, by income.”

An aerial of a large format retail centre at 520 Kessels Road, Macgregor, which sold for $17.5m.

Mr Bond said there were no major capex requirements, outstanding incentives or COVID relief agreements remaining for the property, which was an added drawcard for investors.

“While it’s a busy location with great exposure, it also offers excellent accessibility via the M3, Pacific and Ipswich Motorways and has an abundance of nearby complementary amenity including Westfield Garden City, Sunnybank Plaza, Market Square, QSAC and Nissan Arena.

“We’re seeing strong investor competition for quality opportunities in the market like this, which are limited at the moment.”