Muswellbrook council buys Muswellbrook Marketplace for over $34 million through Savills

The Muswellbrook Shire Council has exchanged contracts to buy the Muswellbrook Marketplace in the Upper Hunter Region for $34.25 million through Savills.

The Council decided on the purchase to connect the marketplace with Muswellbrook’s Main Street – a community priority of the Town Centre Masterplan.

The single-level mall at 72-78 Brook Street is the single largest landholding in the regional city’s CBD and was put on the market through an expressions of interest campaign earlier this year. 

The mall comprises 12,838 sqm of building area on 1.65 hectares.

The Centre includes a Woolworths Supermarket, Big W DDS, three mini majors and 28 specialty stores, and offers an estimated fully leased net annual income of $2.99 million, according to selling agents Steven Lerche and Andrew Palmer of Savills.

The asset is expected to return around 6.7% of its capital value per annum. The major sub-regional shopping centre is anchored by Woolworths Supermarket and Big W.

Buyer’s agent Damien Holliday of Prosper Group acted on behalf of the Council.

The acquisition of Marketplace aligns Council’s primary strategic objectives of the Muswellbrook Town Centre Strategy and the Future Fund, according to a media release.

The council plans to do a staged renovation of the building and will engage with the tenants towards that end.

“The marketing campaign generated interest from both local and interstate groups who have been looking for centres with value add opportunity,” said Lerche.