Fawkner Property has agreed to acquire Cairns Central from Lendlease-managed Australian Prime Property Fund Retail (APPF Retail) for about $390 million.
The largest shopping centre in Far North Queensland, Cairns Central boasts 51,972sqm of gross lettable area and more than 180 tenants including Myer, Woolworths, Coles, Kmart, Target, and Event Cinemas.
“With the strategic divestment of this asset, APPF Retail will be able to close out the remaining redemption requests in the fund, providing liquidity to those investors who requested it,” said Anne MacSporran, APPF Retail fund manager at Lendlease.
“The outlook for Australian retail is positive. With sales having rebounded strongly post-pandemic and now stabilising to more normalised levels, the sector is supported by robust retail fundamentals with growing demand and limited supply of retail space being one of the driving forces for future growth.”
Lachlan MacGillivray of Colliers International and Sam McVay of McVay Real Estate managed the sale, the closing of which is expected in late February next year.
Meanwhile, Fawkner Property representative CBRE noted that the sale represents Queensland’s largest regional shopping centre transaction since November 2017, when AMP acquired a 50 per cent stake in Indooroopilly Central from CSC for $800 million.
“Opportunities to acquire a 100 per cent freehold interest in a market-leading regional shopping centre with management rights are rarely presented,” said Simon Rooney, CBRE’s head of retail capital markets – Pacific.
“Fawkner Property securing two such opportunities at Midland Gate Perth and Cairns Central demonstrates its strategic and counter-cyclical investment approach.”
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