Caneland Central Mackay sale: Sentinel Group discusses Myer’s future

As an investment mogul gears up to buy a major Queensland shopping centre, some stores face an unlikely future including one shoppers were pining for.

The future of the Myer Mackay store is on shaky ground as an investment mogul nicknamed “the property whisperer” shores up support to buy Caneland Central.

Sentinel Property Group founder and CEO Warren Ebert outlined the company’s plans for the major shopping centre during a visit with potential investors on Monday.

The centre’s current owner, Lendlease, placed Caneland on the market in February, fewer than eight months after the region’s other major shopping centre, Mount Pleasant Centre, sold for $162.5m.

While Mr Ebert remained tight-lipped on Sentinel’s offer price, the 134, 500 sqm site fronting the blue Pioneer River has been valued between $300-$320 million.

“Every man, woman and child in Mackay comes to Caneland four times a month,” Mr Ebert said.

“You could never duplicate this centre … you could not buy 15ha in the city, let alone even close to the city.

“To replace a centre like this, it would be $600 million-plus, and you couldn’t get this location.”

Caneland Central first opened in 1979 and has since undergone significant redevelopments including a $230 million expansion in 2011 which introduced a new food court and dining precinct, as well as a Myer department store.

Mr Ebert said if Sentinel was successful in acquiring the centre, there was “no chance in the world” it would introduce David Jones, with the existing Myer store on tenterhooks.

“People know the Christmas sales at Myers and David Jones, and they flock there, but that’s the only time of year that they go there,” he said.

“So, you’ve got to ask, if you were going to replace a Myer or a David Jones in any centre, what would you put there?”

Sentinel Property Group founder and CEO Warren Ebert is excited at the prospect of adding Mackay shopping centre Caneland Central to the company's portfolio. Picture: Heidi Petith

Mr Ebert, whose company owns the only cinemas in the Mackay region across the river at Mount Pleasant, also addressed speculation over whether plans would proceed to transform a carpark at Caneland Central into the town’s second cinema.

Approvals for a V-Max cinema as well as a ground-floor restaurant and dining scene, were extended earlier this year after Lendlease said it had to review Covid-19’s impact on retailers.

“The problem with cinemas, the last few years, it’s been pretty difficult, even before Covid with Netflix and Stan and all those others,” Mr Ebert said.

The Myer store in Mackay on opening night. Photo Peter Holt / Daily Mercury

He said while they were talking with multiple cinema operators, the current economy and Mackay’s high construction costs meant it was very unlikely the project would go ahead before development approvals expired in June, 2027.

“But we do believe that there certainly needs to be some more family entertainment,” Mr Ebert said.

“Whether that’s 10-pin bowling or whatever, we’ve got a few ideas for a couple of things we can get into straight away.”

Mr Ebert would not divulge what those things were, but he said Sentinel was hoping to bring in MECCA, which has more than 100 retail stores across Australia and NZ, as well as a sporting goods store, and a tavern with TAB facilities.

“We’d like to fit (the tavern) in the current envelope,” he said.

Interior of a Mecca Cosmetica store in Sydney. Britta Campion / The Australian

Mr Ebert said they already had a dozen high net-worth investors interested in buying Caneland Central.

If Sentinel’s offer is accepted, it will bolster the company’s$1.085 billion portfolio which includes Darwin’s Casuarina Square shopping centre, bought for $418m in March.

“(It) was the largest single property transaction ever north of Brisbane,” Mr Ebert said.

Sentinel already owns numerous Mackay Isaac Whitsunday region assets including Northpoint Retail; Trade Court; Sarina acreage with approvals in place for a shopping and emergency services precinct; 15 industrial properties throughout Paget; The Hub at Greenfields which houses Centrelink; healthcare premises at Walkerston, Rural View, and Ooralea; and Moranbah Fair.

Originally published as Caneland Central Mackay sale: Sentinel Group discusses Myer’s future