Charter Hall Retail REIT will acquire Gateway Plaza in Leopold, Victoria, for $117 million.
The purchase is a joint venture between the company and Charter Hall Prime Retail Fund, and will be funded as a result of recent divestment efforts.
“The investment into a high-quality convenience centre like Gateway Plaza aligns with the REIT’s investment strategy and follows our other acquisitions in fast growing metropolitan locations,” Charter Hall CEO Retail Greg Chubb said.
“The centre benefits from strong anchor covenants with fixed annual growth from both Bunnings and Aldi.”
The centre sits in a prime location in Leopold, at the gateway to the Bellarine Peninsula, 10km east of the Geelong CBD.
With 5,900 new developments planned or under construction, Gateway Plaza attracts over one million customers per year who spend an additional $648 million in the area.
The 33,510 square metre asset underwent an $85 million redevelopment in March 2017 and is anchored by a Coles and Liquorland, Aldi, Kmart and a freestanding Bunnings, with a 1,117 space car park.
“Strategic asset locations, convenience based, dominance within the trade area, and a diverse mix of strongly performing anchor tenants are recurring themes across our resilient non-discretionary retail portfolio.” Mr Chubb said.
The retail centre will be purchased from Vicinity Centres who confirmed that the sale was not a part of the $1 billion divestment plan to focus their portfolio on larger destination assets.
Revealed on Monday, Vicinity said the plan would provide funds for new development opportunities that would enhance its portfolio.
Michael O’Brien, Vicinity’s Chief Investment Officer, said the assets being divested are “just not strategically consistent with where we want to take the company.”
The divestment is an acceleration in Vicinity’s strategy to reposition its portfolio away from lower grade assets, which has already seen $1.9 billion worth of investments offloaded.
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