Gateway Capital, in partnership with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and an Asian sovereign wealth fund, has acquired the Connect Central Sydney Logistics Estate on the east coast of Australia from Brookfield for A$330m (€201m).
The logistics estate in Sydney has been acquired for the Gateway Capital Urban Logistics Partnership (GULP), the platform established in 2023 by Ontario Teachers’ and Gateway Capital, with the Asian pension fund joining the partnership last year.
Brookfield bought the 2 Christina Road site in Villawood from MaxCap and Time & Place in 2021. The Canadian investor developed and leased the complex of 12 buildings in the logistics park.
Stuart Dawes, Gateway Capital CEO and co-founder, said: “GULP has a focus on inner urban core plus and value-add assets on the east coast markets of Australia that are forecast to benefit from strong tenant demand linked with the growth of e-commerce and population.
Jun Ando, head of Asia-Pacific Real Estate at Ontario Teachers’, said: “We continue to have conviction in the logistics sector, and this newly built Sydney asset is a strong complement to our urban infill, last-mile logistics portfolio that we have been building in Australia.”
Peter McDonald, Gateway Capital’s CIO and co-founder, said: “The estate was 75% leased before the practical completion of the buildings, which is not surprising given the estate caters for small and medium-sized businesses seeking last-mile storage facilities.
“We believe these in-fill locations will continue to be the beneficiary of higher than average rental growth into the foreseeable future.”
Ruban Kaneshamoorthy, Brookfield co-head of Australia real estate, said logistics continues to be a cornerstone of “our Australian real estate portfolio, and we remain focused on doubling the size of our exposure during the next 12 months. We have a strong pipeline of opportunities that we are currently exploring”.
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