Fund manager Sentinel divests from shopping centre in central NSW for $4.18 million
A Coles-anchored shopping centre at Narromine, near Dubbo in central New South Wales, has recently been snapped up by a private investor for $4.18 million.
The deal illustrates the appeal of performing neighbourhood-style shopping centres in regional locations with investors looking to reap gains from retail.
Kierath’s Shopping Square at 76 Dandaloo Street features a 2,141 sqm Coles Supermarket on a long-term lease as well as a Liquorland, six specialty tenancies and an ATM.
The fully-leased property sits on a 5,143 sqm site in the commercial hub of Narromine, a 20-minute drive from Dubbo.
The sale was through Sentinel Property Group, which acquired the shopping centre in 2015 as part of three regional NSW shopping centres in Bathurst, Narromine and Wellington purchased in one line from Charter Hall Retail REIT.
Sentinel managing director Warren Ebert said neighbourhood-style shopping centres in regional locations such as Narromine have been a focus of the company’s growth strategy in recent years.
“We identified this asset class at a time when it was unloved by others but it is now very much back in favour and attracting increased attention from investors,” he said.
“Half of our responsibility to our investors is to buy at the right time, and the other half is to sell at the right time. Given the market demand that is now chasing this style of shopping centre, we felt it was the opportune time to divest our Narromine asset for the benefit of our investors.”
The Narromine shopping centre was an asset of the open-ended pooled Sentinel Countrywide Retail Trust, which also owns shopping centres in Broken Hill, Dubbo, Bathust and Wellington in NSW and Atherton, Townsville and Emerald (x2) in QLD. Sentinel also owns retail assets throughout Australia through both pooled and stand-alone Trusts.
The Narromine sale was Sentinel’s eighth sold property in the last two years. .
Established in 2010, Sentinel (www.sentinelpg.com.au.) is among Australia’s top unlisted commercial property fund managers, with a portfolio of 43 retail, industrial, office, land, tourism and agribusiness assets valued at more than $1 billion.
It has occupied the No. 1 spot on the PCA/IPD (Property Council of Australia/Investment Property Databank) Non-Core Property Fund Index 42 of the last 49 months.
The index, introduced in October 2011, is backed by the global equity indexes of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and is based on total fund performance.
