Elanor takes major hit on mall sale
Elanor Investors Group has taken a major hit selling a regional New South Wales mall – a seed asset eight years ago for the Retail Property Fund (ERF).
Manning Mall in Taree has found favour with Centuria, which will hold it in a single asset fund now calling on investors.
The $34.85 million result is 62 per cent lower than replacement cost, the buyer added.
Elanor priced it at $43m for ERF.
It then invested in a reposition to a single-supermarket neighbourhood centre, anchored to Coles with a revised tenancy mix with essential goods and services focused businesses.
The asset was also offered for sale in January, 2020 – two month before the country’s first lockdown.
Value-add, counter-cyclical play: buyer
Described by Centuria as a “value-add, counter-cyclical opportunity” supported by strong population forecasts, Manning Mall contains 10,800 square metres – six per cent of which is vacant.
Coles’ initial lease expires in 2034.
The shopping centre also includes a major tenancy occupied by Target, 27 specialty stores and four kiosks.
The weighted average lease expiry is 4.95 years. ASX listed groups contribute to just under two thirds of the income.
There are also 422 car parks.
Taree, the largest town in the Mid North Coast area (which comprises six municipalities), is about 170 kilometres north of Newcastle (story continues below).
Centuria Manning Mall Fund
Centuria will hold the 2.97 hectare shopping centre in the Manning Mall Fund, forecasting an eight per cent distribution paid monthly over a five year hold term.
The fund manager is seeking to raise $21m.
“Manning Mall provides a counter-cyclical investment opportunity for our broad network of wholesale and high net worth investors, aiming to capture the strong investment appetite we experienced with our oversubscribed Centuria Halls Head Central Fund earlier this year,” Centuria joint chief executive officer, Jason Huljich, said.
An upgrade to capture higher rent is planned, he added.
Centuria will also manage it.
“In addition to capturing tailwinds from an expanding local population, we believe Manning Mall will benefit from repositioning its tenancy mix to better align with customer demographics,” the fund manager’s Head of Retail, Bruce McCully, said.
“Taree’s population is anticipated to increase c25pc by 2041, with retail expenditure in turn expected to increase at an average rate of 3.7pc to $1.59 billion across the same period,” he added.
Bound by Manning, Wynter, Macquarie and Albert streets, Manning Mall is about 500 metres from Taree station.
Colliers’ James Wilson and Ben Wilkinson were the agents.
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