- AMP Capital Retail Trust (ACRT) has now fully acquired Gold Coast’s Pacific Fair Shopping Centre after the remaining 20 per cent was purchased
- AMP Shopping Centre Fund (ASCF) acquired a 25 per cent stake in Sydney’s Macquarie, together a $758.9 million transaction, Australia’s largest direct retail real estate
- Pacific Fair Stake stands at number five in Australia with the GLA of 150,000 square metres and was sold for $336.4 million at a capitalisation rate of 4.75 per cent
- Located just 19 kilometres outside of Sydney’s CBD and with the GLA of 135,000 square metres, Macquarie Centre interest was sold at the capitalisation rate of 4.5 per cent
- The Pacific Fair share was sold for $336.4 million, representing a 4.75 per cent capitalisation rate, while the Macquarie Centre investment was sold for $422.5 million, representing a 4.5 per cent capitalisation rate
AMP Capital Retail Trust (ACRT) has now fully acquired Gold Coast’s Pacific Fair Shopping Centre after the remaining 20 per cent was purchased.
Meanwhile, the AMP Shopping Centre Fund (ASCF) acquired a 25 per cent stake in Sydney’s Macquarie at a combined value of $758.9 million – Australia’s largest direct retail real estate transaction.
Pacific Fair Stake ranks fifth in Australia in terms of gross lettable area (GLA) with 150,000 square metres and was sold for $336.4 million at a capitalisation rate of 4.75 per cent.
Located just 19 kilometres outside of Sydney’s CBD and with the GLA of 135,000 square metres, Macquarie Centre interest was sold at the capitalisation rate of 4.5 per cent.
Macquarie is home to more diverse development potential, with a 148,000 square metre mixed-use floor area already at the stage of concept approval.
The 25 per cent stake was acquired for $422.5 million at a capitalisation rate of 4.5 per cent.
After the recent merger of AMP Capital Diversified Property Fund with Dexus Wholesale Property Fund, it mandated CBRE’s Head of Retail Capital Markets Simon Rooney together with JLL, to push the expressions of interest campaign.
“The campaign generated significant interest from Australian retail owner-managers, institutional funds and heavyweight offshore investors – providing the first opportunity since the onset of COVID-19 to buy into Australia’s super-regional shopping centre sector,” Mr Rooney said.
“This transaction will instil further confidence in the retail market’s underlying fundamentals given the relative value on offer and will help propel further activity in the new year given the enhanced investor demand for core retail assets”.
In the larger context of public sale real estate, Mr Rooney mentioned the most recent super-regional shopping centre transactions were from 2019 when a 50 per cent stake in South Australia’s Westfield Marmion was sold for $670 million by APPF to Singapore press holdings.
In addition, the sale of a 50 per cent part in West Australia’s Garden City Booragoon at $575 million from AMP to Scentre Group.
“The positive turnaround in institutional investor sentiment and capital reallocation back to retail is in its early stages but is clearly evident and is centred on assets which are considered the ‘best of the best – criteria clearly met by Pacific Fair and Macquarie Centre’,” Mr Rooney said.
“We have seen a material rebasing in retail asset values over the past 12 to 18 months, together with a ‘mark to market’ rental reset,” Mr Rooney added.
“This, combined with monthly sales and traffic growth and the historically attractive retail yields on offer, is clearly compelling – presenting a real window of opportunity for major domestic and offshore investors.”