Myer’s Melbourne store is at the heart of the biggest local CBD retail transaction in 13 years, and the largest one in 2021.
Charter Hall and Abacus Property Group have bought up a majority interest in the 5,680sqm site – 66 per cent – with the remaining third to continue to be held by Vicinity Centres, in a deal organised by Colliers and JLL.
“Myer Melbourne represented one of the best CBD retail offerings in Australian history,” said Colliers’ head of retail investment services Lachlan MacGillivray.
“Whilst Myer Melbourne represents a highly successful business and the strongest single performing department store in Australia, it also represents a significant opportunity for positive rental reversion through mixed-use conversion in an irreplaceable location.”
The store has a weighted average lease expiry of 10.5 years, and is 100 per cent leased to Myer.
The department store saw sales fall 13.1 per cent year on year at $1.4 million in the first half, while comparable sales fell 3.1 per cent.
Myer attributed these results to forced store closures and reduced foot traffic, particularly in the CBDs and, excluding the retailer’s six CBD stores, comparable sales were up 6.3 per cent year on year.