- Market closed at 7,178.40 points today
- The market is up 1.6% since Monday.
- A sharp rise was observed across today.
The market rose sharply today, closing higher for the week so far at 7,178.40 points.
The ASX200 gained 116.80 points for today, or 1.65%.
The movement
On Monday, Aspen Group (ASX: APZ) announced it entered into a conditional contract to acquire 81 apartments at 386 Burwood Highway in the Victorian suburb of Burwood via a liquidation sale. Settlement is expected to occur on 1 March 2024.
The suburb is about half an hour east of Melbourne’s CBD, and is home to Deakin University’s Melbourne campus. The property also has ample access to tram and bus routes, along with being well located near major amenities such as Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre and Chadstone Mall.
The property itself is a four-storey complex, comprising 136 self contained apartments; it was opened in late 2013.
Aspen is acquiring 81 of the apartments in one line, and with 61% of the strata entitlements will control the Owners Corporate for matters requiring ordinary resolutions including property management.
Student Housing Australia currently manages and leases the apartments under a contract that terminates at settlement.
The purchase price for the apartments is $8.11 million, equating to around $100,000 per apartment.
GARDA Property Group (ASX: GDF) has independently revalued Cairns Corporate Tower.
The capitalisation rate has increased 75 basis points to 7.75%, resulting in a modest $5.8 million (6.6%) decrease in value to $82.0 million.
The 14,758 square metre office currently has a 94% occupancy and a 3.7 year weighted average lease expiry (WALE).
GARDA will also independently value the Richlands industrial development upon its practical completion, expected in late December 2023.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) has announced the successful placement of a green bond of €750 million (~A$1.23 billion) with a seven year maturity and a 4.125% fixed coupon (i.e. mid swap + 145 bps).
The bond received strong demand from investors, achieving an oversubscription of 6.1 times and an order book of more than €4.5 billion at its peak, reflecting the high level of debt investors’ appetite for URW’s credit.
On Tuesday, Lifestyle Communities (ASX: LIC) announced the retirement of The Honourable Nicola Roxon, who has decided to retire as a non-executive director with effect from 31 December 2023.
Nicola has served on the Board for over six years, and also fulfilled the role of Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.
“Nicola has made a significant contribution to Lifestyle Communities and its success during her six years on the Board, and she has delivered great value for shareholders,” said LIC chair, Philippa Kelly.
“Her extensive experience in health and ageing, public policy and commercial real estate have provided valuable insights around the Board table, and she will be deeply missed.
“While we are disappointed to see Nicola retire as a Director, we understand the nature and extent of her commitments, and respect her decision.”
Roxon commented, “It has been a tremendously rewarding six years on the Board. The business has grown spectacularly, yet still been able to maintain a relentless focus on its purpose and dedicated attention to homeowners.
“I will miss working with the energetic team and talented Board and appreciate their understanding of my need to rebalance my portfolio.”
Today, Dexus announced that its last mile industrial estate at Moorebank has secured development approval.
The Velociti industrial estate is located at 12 Church Road in the Western Sydney suburb of Moorebank. The estate is co-owned by Dexus and Dexus Industria REIT (ASX: DXI).
The last mile estate will feature circa 17,800 square metres of gross lettable area across seven warehouses with inbuilt mezzanine offices.
The project is located in the Liverpool Local Government Area, Australia’s top online shopping location by purchase volume, offering a supply chain advantage to prospective customers.
“Velociti’s last mile location offers unrivalled access to meet the continued demand for rapid fulfilment. From the Moorebank site, distributors can access 93% of Sydney’s population within 60 minutes,” said Dexus head of transactions and development – industrial, Chris Mackenzie.
“The supply of modern, well located industrial space continues to be constrained, and we expect to see strong interest from customers looking to leverage the facility’s desirable location.”
Construction is expected to commence in early 2024.
That’s the latest in ASX-listed real estate companies.
