Lendlease and one of its managed funds, Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Retail, have sold a Melbourne shopping centre to fund manager IP Generation for A$300m (€182m).
Lendlease developed the Melbourne shopping centre, known as Craigieburn Central, in one of Melbourne’s fastest-growing regions which opened for trading in 2013.
Lendlease retained a 25% interest in the mall and its shopping centre fund, APPF Retail.
Craigieburn Central has long been a sought-after asset due to its location in a growing catchment area, its mix of quality tenants and value-add potential.
Anne MacSporran, fund manager, APPF Retail, said the fund was repositioning its shopping centre portfolio of prime assets to take advantage of changing consumer demands and urban growth opportunities.
She added: “The fund is focused on investing in and creating multi-purpose, mixed-use centres, catering to multiple aspects of customers’ lives. By unlocking the value of surplus land surrounding our assets to deliver development opportunities, we aim to further activate our retail centres and deliver resilient, long-term performance for our investors.”
Simon Rooney, CBRE’s head of retail capital markets, Pacific, who negotiated the sale on behalf of the vendors, said the sale was “a highly competitive pricing outcome” for APPF Retail and Lendlease.
Rooney said Craigieburn Central offered investors “attractive-inherent, long-term and deep-value fundamentals”.
“The retail sector is set to benefit from migration, resilient spend in the face of already high interest rates and very low new supply in the market after a period of under-investment,” he said.
IP Generation is one of the most active investors in the Australian retail market. The boutique fund manager, established in 2018, has accumulated a portfolio valued at around A$1bn.
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