First national sale of an Aldi supermarket this year hits the market

• Aldi is the third largest supermarket operator in Australia
• However, Aldi is the largest supermarket owner in Australia
• The asset has a 14-year lease

The first national sale campaign for an Aldi supermarket – a rare occurrence – has begun, with the listing of Aldi West Melbourne.

Tim McIntosh, Mike Crittenden, Oliver Hay and Daniel Wolman of Colliers, alongside JLL’s Tom Noonan, Stuart Taylor and MingXuan Li have been exclusively appointed to sell the brand-new asset, located on Spencer Street, located about 800 metres from the centre of Melbourne.

Aldi, the third largest supermarket operator in Australia with over 570 stores nationally and an 11% market share, behind Coles (28%) and Woolworths (37%).

Despite this, Aldi is the largest supermarket owner, as the company directly owns the majority of their freestanding supermarkets, unlike Coles and Woolworths.

“Supermarket investments are highly sought after by investors attracted to their ultra-defensive and recession proof characteristics coupled with above-trend income growth,” said Tim McIntosh, Director of Retail Middle Markets at Colliers.

“The opportunity to acquire a trophy Melbourne supermarket secured by Aldi Australia is exceptionally rare, particularly in a prime CBD-fringe location with attractive depreciation benefits. Accordingly, we expect significant interest from a range of local and offshore investors” added Tom Noonan, Director of JLL Retail Investments.

The supermarket has a new 14-year lease with annual CP increases, located within the luxury mixed-use development by Lechte Corporation, CLD Australia and Crema Group.

“In the current environment, the highly attractive CPI annual increases capped at 8.0% provide investors with significant income growth and represents an inflationary-hedged investment opportunity with long-term security to a AAA covenant,” Stuart Taylor Senior Director of JLL Retail Investments said.

“Aldi West Melbourne sits within the most rapidly growing CBD-fringe precinct, with significant residential and commercial population growth driven by the City of Melbourne’s West Melbourne Structure Plan. There are over 1,000 apartments being developed between 2021-2023.”

Recent Metropolitan Melbourne Supermarket Transactions