Amart furniture building in Rockhampton sells for $12.3m

A leading agent says the national market views Rockhampton as an “investment destination”.

The large complex ha a long-term tenant in Amart Furniture.

The purchase of a large retail shop/warehouse in North Rockhampton for $12.3 million reflected strong investor confidence in the Central Queensland capital, the selling agent said this week.

Jacob Swan of JLL Retail sold the 1.16ha Yaamba Road property, which houses long-term national tenant Amart Furniture and boasts 50m highway frontage, late last year to a Victorian investor.

“We had a good response (from prospective buyers) and a pretty strong result,” Mr Swan said.

“The market likes Amart as a tenant and covenant and the market likes Rockhampton as an investment destination.”

He said Rockhampton was on the national commercial investor radar “big time” due to a range of factors including a long list of major projects such as the $1.7 billion Rockhampton Ring Road (set for completion about 2032) and the $1 billion Rockhampton to Gladstone Pipeline.

He said JJL expected sales in the retail sector in regional Queensland to increase significantly through 2025 as “key economic tailwinds continue to drive asset resilience and growth”.

Other significant projects for the Rockhampton region and surrounds currently underway include the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road upgrade, The Browne Park Stadium project, the Mount Morgan water pipeline and the Great Keppel Island infrastructure upgrades including a new $10 million sewage facility.

The retail/shop houses Amart Furniture on Yaamba Road, North Rockhampton.

There are also several significant residential subdivisions in the development stage such as the 300 lot Mildura Rise Estate 15km north of the Amart property on the Bruce Highway.

Mr Swan said the sale price of the Amart building indicated an annual rental yield of about 8.3 per cent with a “net passing income” of $1.23m.

Amart was also tied to a long-term contract with fixed annual 3 per cent rent increases.

The property last sold in 1992 for $350,0o0.

Its current sale price of $12.3 million can be measured against the 2019 $43.5 million purchase of the nearby Bunnings anchored complex, a much larger set-up on 5.52ha with multiple tenants in the two buildings.

The sprawling Red Hill Homemaker complex in North Rockhampton covering 4.64ha, with more than 10 tenants including Harvey Norman, sold for almost $38 million in 2018.

In other recent commercial sales for the city, the 25-unit Best One motel on Gladstone Road sold for $2 million in September.

Originally published as Amart furniture building in Rockhampton sells for $12.3m