MEDIA RELEASE: Qualitas and Greenpool Capital to Acquire 50% of Runaway Bay Shopping Centre
7 October 2021
Qualitas Continues Retail Investment Strategy Through Partnership with Greenpool Capital to Acquire 50% of Runaway Bay Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast
Qualitas, one of Australia’s leading alternative real estate investment managers, and Greenpool Capital, a specialist retail property investor, have acquired 50% of Runaway Bay Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast in Queensland for $128 million. This acquisition represents a continuation of the retail investment strategy for Qualitas, targeting convenience-based centres located in strong growth catchments – with Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast being one of Australia’s most significant growth corridors. The property manager of the Centre is co-owner Vicinity Centres.
Qualitas’ strategy in the Retail sector is focused on through-cycle convenience-based centres leveraged to positive demographic trends and surrounding residential amenity and infrastructure, that in time will allow for income growth and capital value accretion potential based on large land holdings and the ability to develop the assets further.
The Centre is located in Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast, a coastal suburb located 6km north of Southport central business district and 60km southeast of Brisbane. Runaway Bay benefits from strong underlying demographic and employment growth trends, with a medium-to-long term population growth outlook of 2.3% p.a., along with c.$25bn of public and private infrastructure spend.
It comprises a total Gross Lettable Area (GLA) of 43,150sqm on a 12.5 hectare site. The Centre captures trade through the northern suburbs of the Gold Coast, with the trade area extending around 15km to north and about 8km to the south and west, with 2,233 car parking bays to accommodate patrons.
It is a strongly performing convenience-based centre comprising 3 national supermarket anchors, 2 discount department stores, 4 mini majors and 90 speciality stores, with prime canal frontage in Runaway Bay. The Centre is predominately a local convenience centre, but being on the Gold Coast, it benefits from exposure to one of Australia’s largest tourism markets.
Mark Fischer, co-founder and Global Head of Real Estate at Qualitas, said: “We continue to see relative value opportunities in convenience-based retail centres, as the well-flagged structural and cyclical resetting of rents interplays with yields available on these assets compared to those in other defensive sectors. Runaway Bay Shopping Centre is a dominant centre within its catchment, tenanted by high-performing, non-discretionary and national chain covenants, located within a strong growth catchment, with a significant underlying land holding with potential for future value add development and an attractive entry point into retail capital value and yield cycle.”
Fischer added: “The Centre has benefited from capital investment in 2021, with the revitalisation of the fresh food and dining ‘Spine’ – a new indoor-outdoor casual dining precinct, taking advantage of the Centre’s waterfront location. We continue to seek strong value opportunities such as this for our investors as the sector recalibrates.”
Brad Osborne, Founder and Managing Director of Greenpool, said: “The Runaway Bay acquisition builds on our strategy to invest in strong value-add, convenience-based centres with Tier 1 capital partners. Runaway Bay has strong fundamentals as a Centre and is further enhanced through significant landholdings in a growing catchment. Greenpool is looking forward to progressing this acquisition with Qualitas, which builds on a strong relationship following our recent co-investment in Adelaide’s North Adelaide Village.”
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For further information, please contact:
Kate Stokes, Head of Marketing and Communications
M: 0481 251 552
E: kate.stokes@qualitas.com.au
This media release has been prepared by Qualitas Securities Pty Ltd (ACN 136 451 128) (Qualitas Securities), holder of Australian Financial Services Licence number 342242. Qualitas Securities and its related bodies corporate and affiliates constitute the Qualitas group (Qualitas).
The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to issue or arrange to issue financial products. The information contained herein is not financial product advice. This document has been prepared without taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you should read the publicly available information carefully and consider, with or without the assistance of a financial adviser, whether an investment is appropriate in light of your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
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All data in this document has been calculated using the most accurate sources available, however any rates or totals manually calculated may differ from those shown due to rounding. Figures may also differ from those previously disclosed due to adjustments made following period end.