Commercial and residential property news
LEND LEASE has today upped the price it offered per security, as part of its attempt to acquire all of Lend Lease Primelife, from 31 cents to 35 cents.
Below is a copy of today’s Lend Lease announcement:
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THE FUTURE Fund has paid £200 million ($A375 million) for a stake in UK’s most visited regional shopping centre, The Bullring, in Birgmingham.
The Fund Fund – which exists to generate income to pay the government’s unfunded upcoming superannuation commitments – has purchased a 33 per cent stake in the centre at a low yield of 7 per cent. Two years ago, at the peak of the property boom, prime UK shopping centre yields were about 4.75 per cent.
The $61 billion Future Fund is directed by former Commonwealth Bank of Australia executive David Murray (pictured), and headquartered in Melbourne.
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FORMER RETIREMENT Village developer the Zig Inge group has paid $20.2 million for Camberwell’s Rivoli theatre, reflecting a huge drop in the building’s value since even last year, and a massive loss for Challenger.
The Zig Inge Group, which recently sold its retirement arm portfolio to Macquarie and FKP for $641 million, has purchased the Rivoli and will retain it as an investment. Land around the cinema offers great redevelopment potential.
The Rivoli, at 200 Camberwell Road, was offloaded by the Challenger Hybrid Property Fund, which put a value of $23.2 million on the asset just last year. Challenger spent about $16 million on a luxury restoration of the 5,340 square metre cinema in 1999.
Read moreCharter Hall Group (“CHC” or “Charter Hall”) announces a $73 million listed equity raising. Gandel Group (“Gandel”) will invest up
Read moreThe GPT Group (GPT) today announced further progress in relation to the Group’s non core asset sales program, with an agreement to sell the Group’s interest in the Alliance portfolio (previously warehoused within the Hamburg Trust platform) to a syndicate of private investors. The portfolio was originally acquired to seed a closed end fund.
On completion of the sale, GPT will have sold approximately $650 million of non core assets since December 2008. This is in line with the Group’s strategy to exit non core portfolios and markets.
Read moreLend Lease Corporation Limited (“Lend Lease”) today announced that its UK public private partnerships (“PPP”) business, Catalyst Lend Lease has achieved financial close with Lancashire County Council on the £55 million (approximately A$110 million) Phase 3 and a £16 million (approximately A$32 million) academy as part of the East Lancashire Building Schools for the Future (“BSF”) programme in England.
Read moreMacquarie Direct Property Fund has revealed itself as the buyer of the former Zurich office building at 71 Queens Road.
Read moreAMP Capital Investors and the Meridien Group can expect to make between $100 million and $150 million from the sale of 12 South Australian retirement villages.
The portfolio includes 946 retirement village units, and 246 serviced apartments. The joint venture owners confirmed it will accept off-market offers on the assets as a whole, or individually.
The joint venture owners will retain villages in New South Wales and Queensland.
Read moreBECTON Office Fund has reaped $13.75 million for Adelaide CBD’s “Blackburn House”.
A private investor has purchased the 199 Grenfell Street office on a yield of 9.35 per cent. The 18-year old 5,060 square metre office has three street frontages, and is anchored by the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Read moreTHE VICTORIAN Civil and Administrative Tribunal has given developers the green light to build a 12-level apartment building in Queens
Read moreTHE West Australian government has named Delfin Lend Lease as the preferred developer for the first stage of the 710 hectare Alkimos Community development, 40 kilometres north of Perth.
Alkimos will be Delfin Lend Lease’s first major project in WA, despite establishing in the state two years ago.
Perth based Satterley Property Group and Mirvac were also shortlisted to buy the site, the AFR reports.
GE Real Estate Group is trying its luck to sell a B-grade office building overlooking the Carlton Gardens – again. GE
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CENTRO Properties Group is expected to list for sale a $4 billion portfolio of prime retail assets, as its bankers call for the company to settle its debts.
It’s expected Perth’s Galleria complex, and The Glen, in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley will be two of the 40-plus assets offered for sale.
Lend Lease, Colonial First State Global Management and AMP Capital Investors are expected to be in the mix of prospective purchasers, though the sale might also be on an individual shopping centre basis.
Read moreTHE CHALLENGER Wine Trust is understood to be selling about $20 million of dozens of vineyards around the country.
The trust’s manager Nick Gill told The Australian “We are in the process of reducing our gearing, as all property trusts are.”
“They are of varying sizes, all dotted across different parts of Australia, some in premium areas and some in less premium areas”.
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THE Brisbane Square office building has sold for $300 million to a consortium including Charter Hall Group’s wholesale Core Plus Office Fund, and Telstra Super.
The duo purchased the asset from WA super group Westscheme.
Measuring 57,300 square metres, the A-grade office sale is due to settle by mid November.
A Charter Hall statement is copied below:
Read moreSYDNEY-based developer Lend Lease has announced a new CEO for its American arm.
Lend Lease Australia CEO and managing director Steve McCann announced Robert McNamara’s appointment in a statement today (copied below).
Mr McNamara will report to Mr McCann, and be responsible for divisions including: Development, Project Management and Construction, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Investment Management.
He takes the help on April 19, 2010.
Read moreLEND LEASE has announced the appointment of a new director of operations, Scott Charlton.
Details of the appointment are in the Lend Lease statement copied below:
Read moreTHE ASX-listed Australian Education Trust, controlled by Austock, will sell a portfolio of 30 child care centres across Australia.
The centres will be sold with an average 10 year lease, according to a statement issued by Colliers International, and will be auctioned in a staggered campaign starting late next month.
Colliers International said “the properties provide an institutional grade investment opportunity, with an entry level price [into the commercial property investment market] and attractive yields.”
Read moreMACQUARIE Group Limited will sell the majority of its Australian real estate business to the Sydney-based Charter Hall.
Macaquarie will sell the management of two listed trusts – Macquarie Office and Macquarie Countrywide – and three unlisted real estate funds including the Macquarie Direct Property Fund.
Details of the deals are in the Macquarie Group Limited statement below:
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A SINGAPORE based real estate trust has paid $166 million for a half share in a major Brisbane office building.
Read moreABACUS Property Group has offloaded two Queensland hotels for $34.2 million to Rydges Hotel’s Amalgamated Holdings Limited.
The hotels include the Rydges Gladstone and Townsville hotels, and were sold by the Abacus Hospitality Fund.
The purchases follow a spending spree last year, in which AHL paid the Raptis Group and City Pacific’s CP1 $56.5 million for the Gold Coast International hotel. It also paid Selpam and FKP $22 million for the Port Douglas Sabaya Resort.
Read moreGPT Group’s Homemaker City Fortitude Valley shopping centre, in Brisbane, is believed to be close to sale for about $90 million.
The complex includes more than a dozen bulky goods outlets, and a 700-bay car park. The centre is believed to be in due diligence to an as-yet-undisclosed purchaser.
The centre was one of seven GPT put to the market last year in Queensland and New South Wales. To date, the Cannon Hill and Windsor Centre in Brisbane have sold for a combined $20 million.
Read moreTRINITY Limited has sold Brisbane’s 400 Queen Street office in Brisbane for $15.75 million.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday, Trinity confirmed it offloaded the 13-level, 3,989 square metre building, which it acquired in April 2007.
“400 Queen Street formed part of an amalgamated group of four adjoining commercial buildings owned by TERF [Trinity Enhanced Return Fund], which are well positioned within the ‘golden triangle’ of the Brisbane CBD”, Trinity said. “The sale follows the divestment of 410 Queen Street for $23.8 million and 20 South Wharf for $5.5 million earlier this year.
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AUSTRALAND has unveiled plans for its $160 million Kangaroo Point apartment project in Brisbane.
The controversial project will be developed on Brisbane’s historic Yungaba House site, which was the first property to be put on the state’s heritage register in 1992. The State government sold the site to Australand.
The project will include 68 units in the first stage, and ten luxury homes in the second stage, which will be built into the historic riverfront home.
Read moreQUEENSLAND developer Kevin Seymour has paid $22 million for Brisbane’s Country Road building, at 180 Queen Street.
The heritage listed building was offloaded by the Mirvac PFA Diversified Property Trust, which purchased the asset in October 2005. It was last valued on Mirvac’s website in June 2007, at $25.5 million.
The 9-level building once accommodated a banking chamber. The property is on the northern end of the Queen Street Mall between David Jones and the Broadway on the Mall shopping centre. It is also opposite the Wintergarden and Hilton Complex.
Read moreSOUTH African property group Redefine Properties is reported to be in discussions to buy a 25 per cent stake in the Brisbane-based Cromwell Group property trust.
Cromwell revealed it was in talks with the South African company in statements to the market.
“Cromwell is discussing corporate opportunities with a number of parties, includign some potential institutional investors,” the trust said in a market announcement reported by the AFR.
Read moreAustraland chief financial officer Tiernan O’Rourke resigned from the company today (October 15), and it is looking for a replacement.
A copy of the company’s announcement is below:
Read moreLend Lease today announced a plan to become a stapled entity, with newly created trust: Lend Lease Trust (LLT).
A copy of the announcement is below:
Lend Lease Corporation (“Lend Lease”) today announced a proposal to become a stapled entity (“Stapling Proposal”) on ASX. This will be achieved by distributing units in a newly created trust, Lend Lease Trust (“LLT”) to shareholders on a 1:1 basis and “stapling” each unit and share together so that they trade on ASX as a stapled security.
Read moreTHE funds management division of Melbourne-based developer Grocon, and US-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management have made an offer for the Multiplex Prime Property Fund, with a $109 million cash and hybrid security offer.
The move would see Grocon take over the management of the fund, and unit holders walk away from a second instalment obligation, due in 2011. Investors would sell their units for 2 cents each, they are currently worth 1 cent.
It’s reported discussions have been underway between the groups since May this year, and that any deal would see the Grocon-Oaktree consortium pay an upfront $45 million to banks, and a further $56 million to pay some of the upcoming second instalment liability.
Read moreVALAD Property Group has announced the resignation of two senior executives. In a brief statement to the ASX yesterday, Valad’s
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