Korean buyer forks out $9.3m for Burleigh shops on Gold Coast
This week in Prime Site: Burleigh shops sell for millions, a new e-tailer moves to Southport and a Sydney doctor buys an old Queenslander turned commercial building in Mudgeeraba
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IN this week’s Prime Site we look at all the latest news from across the Gold Coast.
CONNOR ST SHOPS IN $9.3M DEAL
A KOREAN investor has snapped up three shops and seven offices in the heart of Burleigh Heads for $9.3 million showing demand for premium retail properties is as “strong as it has ever been”.
The ground-floor shops at 13-17 Connor St, located just off James St, are home to Rip Curl, The Pantry Cafe and The Pocket Burleigh falafel shop. Upstairs are seven offices spanning 15-22sq m and home to professional services firms.
Colliers International’s Steven King and Adam Young, of Black & Young Real Estate, acted as marketing agents.
Mr King said the shops and offices, located on a double block spanning 814sq m, sold offmarket.
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“This was a pretty strong outcome for the owner,” he said. “It is a two-tier market. The demand for premium assets that are non-COVID affected is as strong as it has ever been.”
Mr King said the sale reflected a sharp yield of about 5 per cent.
“Investment assets are attractive to affluent private buyers because the return is greater than they can get out of the bank,” he said.
“If it is an asset with significant risk buyers want to see value before they take that on.”
The seller, Nicole Mockridge, held the property for more than 20 years.
The new owner is GC Value Five Pty Ltd, linked to Jun Ho Kim.
Mr King said the property had a WALE (weighted average lease expiry) of under three years and a net lettable area of 630sq m.
‘PEPPY’ DEAL FOR SOUTHPORT OFFICE SPACE
THE owner of a Southport office building has seen its latest leasing strategy pay off with all eight spaces offered to the market taken up by tenants.
Abacus last year gutted and refitted three floors of its building at 12 Short St, which it has owned since 2007.
It offered eight spaces with speculative fit-outs to the market and CBRE’s Nick Selbie, who has headed the campaign, recently signed on the eighth tenant for space on level two.
The latest business to move in is e-tailer Peppy Co, which sells what it calls “hi-tech beauty products” such as LED light therapy masks.
Peppy Co has signed a three-year lease for 152sq m at $380sq m gross.
Co-owners Mia and Ermin Plakalo started the business two-and-half years ago and ran it from home before moving to an office/warehouse in Arundel.
They decided their expanding company, which has seen sales surge during COVID-19, were in need of bigger premises and started to look around before settling on 12 Short St.
“When we moved from our office/warehouse in Arundel this is what we pictured before we even knew what we wanted,” Mr Plakalo said.
“We wanted two other offices and an open plan area for the staff and space for a studio.”
Mr Plakalo said the fact the space already had a fit-out was ideal.
“We didn’t want to invest our energy in designing an office space, thinking about what type of layout we wanted,” he said.
“This was perfect. We come in, plug our computers in and we’re ready to go.”
Ms Plakalo said the company has seen “exponential growth” since March.
They have six staff and scope for more with the new office.
“The business started going really well especially when COVID hit because our products are for the home especially the LED light masks,” she said.
“We were one of the first companies that brought it to the market in Australia as the home version of the product.”
Mr Selbie said Gold Coast SMEs are looking for office space with existing fit-outs.
He said the space Peppy Co has leased attracted 15 inquiries since June.
“I have concluded four leases in the past fortnight and a further 15 are close to being finalised for space between 100-250sq m,” he said.
“All have existing fit-outs in place which is a sign of the times for potential tenants.
“They are conscious of capital expenditure and would like a timely transaction.”
MUDGEERABA QUEENSLANDER NABBED IN $1.45M DEAL
A SYDNEY doctor is the new owner of an 80-year-old-plus Queenslander in Mudgeeraba home to four commercial tenants.
The 63 Railway St property hosted the first Samsara cafe and furniture store prior to the business’ expansion and subsequent decline.
It now hosts a craft shop, solicitors, therapist and physiotherapist.
Savills’ James Stevenson, who marketed the property, would not disclose the sale price but industry sources said it was $1.45 million.
He said the property was under contract prior to COVID-19.
“COVID put the brakes on the sale for a couple of months,” he said.
“We then renegotiated three of the four tenancies.
“We had a better WALE and a better asset to be offering to the market.
“That improved the yield at the end of the day.”
Mr Stevenson said the sale reflected a yield of 7 per cent.
He said the sale contract was signed in July and the deal settled on September 1. The seller was Blackstock Property Custodial Company No. 2 Pty Ltd, linked to Violet and Les Blackstock, which had held the property since 2015 after paying $1.375m.
Mr Stevenson said the Railway St area was becoming more popular with both Gold Coast and Brisbane residents.
“The area is becoming gentrified with some trendy restaurants,” he said.
“There is easy access north and south from the M1 and affordable rental rates.”
Mr Stevenson said he was seeing more consumer confidence and an increase in inquiries from prospective buyers from interstate.
He said in the past three months he had sold four properties with negotiations under way on another two.
Mr Stevenson has used the COVID-19 period to launch a new podcast called The Successful Property Investors Podcast.
Guests have so far included ex-Wallaby and former Savills CEO Paul McLean and Urbis town planner Liam Campbell.
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