The Bacchus Marsh Village Shopping Centre, owned by ASX-listed Abacus Property Group, was snapped up for $61.65 million on a seven per cent yield by Colin De Lutis.

The single level,16,000 square metre (GLA) centre, which Abacus purchased in July 2013, boasts more than 60 tenants and a very strong anchor tenancy profile including Coles, Aldi and Target Country, as well as a string of mini-majors with Kaisercraft, The Reject Shop, Anytime Fitness, Nova Pharmacy and The Elms Medical Centre.

The 4.39 hectare, central township, site has four street frontages, six access points and 714 parking spaces and was sold with a potential net income (fully leased) of circa $4.5 million. Coles has a 15 year lease, while Aldi, Nova, and Elms all have ten year terms, with options.

“The popularity of shopping centre assets is growing as we move further into 2018 and the list of
prospective buyers, including those who have missed the cut, if you like, with previous sales,
grows with it,” CBRE’s Mark Wizel, who managed the sale process with colleague Justin Dowers, said of the deal.

“Part of that increasing demand comes despite fears about the negative impact of online tradingwith buyers now much more comfortable that a tenancy profile remix is capable of delivering a significantly better trading performance.”

Abacus’ chief investment officer and head of strategy Steven Sewell said that the centre had seen its income increase via a leasing and re-positioning strategy but that a portfolio review had deemed that resources would be better focused elsewhere.