MLC Asset Management has bought the fully-leased Bayview Centre retail asset on the east coast of Australia from developer Griffith Capital for A$57m (€35m).
In 2020, the vendor acquired the Warrawong site from Blackstone for A$35m. The site was subsequently redeveloped and opened as Bayview Centre in December 2023.
“The addition of the Bayview Centre to our property plus portfolio is a good example of our well-planned rotation out of commercial office and into the large format retail sector,” said Simon Gross, head of property at MLC Asset Management.
“We have every expectation that our investors will benefit from the relatively high and secure rental distributions as well as the long-term nature of the national retail tenant leases at the centre,” he said.
It is the third large format retail centre that MLC has acquired, following the purchase of Chirnside Lifestyle Centre in Melbourne and Great Western Centre in Sydney.
Colliers’s head of retail middle markets James Wilson and Ben Wilkinson secured the sale of the centre to MLC.
“Institutional and private investor appetite for large-format retail centres continues to grow, given the sector offers investors strong income growth from high-profile national retailers strategically located in growing catchments,” said Wilson.
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