Gold Coast shopping centres for sale: Stakes sold in Runaway Bay shopping centre and Westfield Helensvale

A half-share in one of the Gold Coast’s largest shopping centres has been sold for a nine-figure sum. FULL DETAILS >>>

Westfield Helensvale.

A half-share in one of the Gold Coast’s largest shopping centres has been sold for a nine-figure sum.

Perth’s Greenpool Capital in partnership with investment firm Qualitas has acquired a 50 per stake of Runaway Bay Shopping Centre for $128 million.

CBRE’s Head of Retail Capital Markets – Pacific, Simon Rooney negotiated the off-market sale on behalf of Western Australian billionaire Stan Perron’s Perron Group.

“With record historical pricing being achieved for freestanding and neighbourhood centres, astute investors are shifting their focus to high quality sub regional assets,” Mr Rooney said.

 

Runaway Bay shopping centre.

Mr Rooney, who has also been appointed to campaigns for shares in Pacific Fair, Harbour Town and Westfield Helensvale, said all three were expected to sell before Christmas.

“Investor interest in Queensland is being driven by strong retail expenditure and solid population growth in addition to robust and resilient asset performance, with Queensland’s retail sector having had a less impact from COVID lockdowns,” Mr Rooney said.

The Runaway Bay deal was struck on a fully leased yield of 6.5 per cent for the 42,862sqm sub regional centre.

 

The sale follows a recent $13m refurbishment and reconfiguration of the centre’s food and waterfront dining precinct, which is due to be completed this year.

PREVIOUSLY: BUYER FOUND FOR WESTFIELD HELENSVALE

SALES campaigns for three of the Gold Coast’s biggest shopping centres have attracted investors from across the world, with agents fielding inquiries for the lucrative retail assets.

The sale of Pacific Fair could fetch as much as $1.8b – an Australian record for a shopping centre sale – with the half shares of HarbourTown Premium Outlets and Westfield Helensvale likely to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars each.

One of the centres already has a buyer on the hook, with a deal to be settled by the end of the year.

The Bulletin understands Westfield Helensvale is likely to change ownership, with a process currently under way with a prospective buyer for Queensland Investment Commission’s 50 per cent share.

That stake is likely to settle for a nine-figure sum, with recent half shares in regional shopping centres including Western Australia’s Garden City centre, which was acquired by Scentre Group in 2019 for $575m, and YFG’s two-stage purchase of Mt Ommaney shopping centre in Brisbane for $380m, in a deal which concluded in early 2020.

Scentre Group currently owns the other 50 per cent stake in Westfield Helensvale, and the neighbouring site of the former NightQuarter markets, which will be included in the sale.

Westfield Helensvale.

A new owner could also be in the wings for a 20 per cent stake in Pacific Fair, with expressions of interest set to close mid-October.

A source close to the campaign, being jointly undertaken by CBRE and JLL, said the Broadbeach icon had generated strong interest from “major local players and global investors”.

The 20 per cent stake has been valued between $336m and $366m.

The Bulletin understands negotiations for the remaining 80 per cent stake in Pacific Fair, owned by AMP Capital Retail Trust, will open once a deal has been struck for the first stake.

Meanwhile Dan McVay, whose agency McVay Real Estate has been jointly appointed with CBRE to sell a 50 per cent stake in HarbourTown, said it had received strong interest despite most prospective buyers being unable to physically inspect the property.

“Most people know the property well and we’ve had a virtual tour done which is very explicit,” he said.

“We’ve also got a stabiliser camera so we can show the property for people as we walk through.

“Most of the prospective buyers are from outside of Queensland and they are generally all institutional buyers.”

Expressions of interest in the HarbourTown stake close at the end of next week and Mr McVay said demand was high.

“The buyers have been non sector-specific, while there are some who focus on retails, a lot of people are just looking for good strong properties with high yield.”

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