- The centre is the largest in northern Queensland, and services over 175,000 people
- APPF Retail has owned the asset since 2011
- JLL managed the sale
Caneland Central in Mackay, Queensland has been sold to Sentinel Property Group from Lendlease’s Australian Prime Property Fund Retail (APPF Retail) for around $280 million.
The sales comes as HomeCo acquires two other Lendlease shopping centres for $245.5 million.
Anchored by Coles, Woolworths, Myer, Target and Big W, Caneland Central is a dominant 65,964 sqm regional shopping centre that also accommodates a range of mini-majors and speciality tenants.
The centre is the largest in the region, servicing over 175,000 people.
APPF Retail has owned and managed Caneland Central since 2011, and has attracted a high level of interest from prospective buyers, thanks to its lifestyle location in Mackay.
Anne MacSporran, Fund Manager, APPF Retail said the centre has been a strong performer for the fund due to its mi of lifestyle, dining and retail, along with its core position in Mackay.
“Despite recent market volatility, the outlook for Australian retail remains positive, with sales remaining robust post the pandemic,” she said.
“APPF Retail is continuing to evolve in line with changing consumer demands and is positioning its assets to offer more mixed-use opportunities to cater to future lifestyle, technology and shopping needs.”
Sam Hatcher and Nick Willis from JLL managed the sale.
Mr Hatcher said, “Opportunities to acquire a 100% stake in major Regional Shopping Centres seldom come to market. Caneland Central is the only 100% interest Regional Shopping Centre to have sold in 2022, and in the past 10 years, only three of the 38 Regional Shopping Centre assets to have sold in Australia have been for a 100% interest with management rights.”
“In terms of asset performance, the operating fundamentals for retail investments have also continued to strengthen. For example, the moving annual turnover (MAT) in Caneland Central has increased by 23% in 5-years.
“The sale of Caneland Central brings retail investment to $5.8 billion in 2022 (YTD), suggesting 2022 will be within the range of a typical year of $6-8 billion per annum.
“Syndicates are still the lead buyers for major retail assets in this environment and continue to be an important source of liquidity in the retail sector,” said Mr Hatcher.
Mr Willis added the transaction is a positive endorsement for the retail investment market in Australia.
“It represents the second shopping centre trade above $250m in 2022, (excluding large format retail); and the largest shopping centre to have been formally marketed and sold this year.”
“The value proposition for major retail assets is compelling despite higher debt costs, because initial yields are attractive, and valuations were reset in 2020. In this instance, the sale of Caneland Central was originally agreed in April 2022, prior to the RBA’s monetary policy tightening, and was concluded in November 2022 following a 275-basis point increase to the cash rate.”
Andrew Quilfeldt, JLL’s Head of Research – Capital Markets noted that despite high inflations of inflation, retail spending and shopping centre fundamentals have performed strongly this year, in fact, well above expectations.
“The combination of revenue growth for many retailers and rebasing of rents has helped restore occupancy cost ratios to more sustainable levels,” he said.
“While capital has been cautious towards assets of scale, across all sectors, we anticipate there will be a rebound in investment demand as we approach the peak in the interest rates cycle in 2023 and there is more clarity about the macro-outlook and future funding costs.”
