Ex boss of Gold Coast developer Villa World Craig Treasure snaps up Burleigh bike shop for $1.6M

Bike shops are being called the commercial property market’s new ‘trophy assets’ thanks to renewed enthusiasm for bicycles.

BIKE shops are being called the commercial property market’s new ‘trophy assets’ thanks to renewed enthusiasm for bicycles in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ex-Villa World boss Craig Treasure is the latest to jump on the bike shop asset class, spending $1.6 million on a tenanted retail property in Burleigh Heads.

Mr Treasure exited Broadbeach-based Villa World earlier this year after shareholders approved the $290 million takeover by the Australian arm of US-based real estate funds manager Proprium.

He banked more than $5.39 million from the sale, including proceeds from 1.16 million performance rights that were brought forward in light of the takeover.

Former Villa World managing director Craig Treasure.

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Mr Treasure has used some of those funds to purchase a shop at 6/110 Kortum Drive, Burleigh Heads, tenanted by 99 Bikes.

“We’ve put the capital we had in Villa World shares into income-producing property,” Mr Treasure said.

“We’ve been looking for properties for some time and this was is a good property with a good tenant profile and a good lease and we were very happy with our acquisition.”

Flight Centre owns 99 Bikes, which is the largest bicycle retailer in the country.

The ASX-listed company has guaranteed the 10-year lease put in place for 99 Bikes.

Mr Treasure said he has been looking for tenanted retail properties since finishing at Villa World.

6/110 Kortum Drive, Burleigh Heads, has sold for $1.6 million to ex-Villa World boss Craig Treasure.

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He said it is the first acquisition he has made since cashing out.

“We will probably look to buy some further things. The next target will be in Brisbane and we’ll see where the market tracks later in the year and next year.”

Mr Treasure said 99 Bikes has had record sales during the covid19 pandemic.

“Bikes are a big thing in families lives these days and I think they will prove to be a good tenant.”

He said the state of the market will be dictated by the state of the economy.

“As we see JobKeeper and Jobseeker change late this year.....and as we get into the reality of people having to pay the banks on their loans it will probably be the first quarter of next year before we see the real state of the economy.”

The sale was negotiated by Ray White Commercial’s Lachlan O’Keeffe and Michael Feltoe.

Mr Feltoe said the sale campaign attracted 138 inquiries with the price reflecting a yield of 5.7 per cent.

“With many people using 99-Bikes’ success as the ‘pin-up’ for retail across social media, in the post COVID-19 landscape, we believe tenant covenants like this will be increasingly viewed by investors as trophy investments.”