BRW Rich Lister Shaun Bonett to sell off $400 million stake in CBD retail assets
BRW Rich Lister Shaun Bonétt’s Precision Group is selling a 50 per cent stake worth a $400 million in two prized CBD retail assets.
He is divesting the stakes from Adelaide Central Plaza in Adelaide and MacArthur Central in Brisbane, which has iPhone-maker Apple’s largest store in Australia.
Bonett appointed JLL’s head of Retail Investments – Australasia, Simon Rooney, for the stake sale.
According to JLL Research, both the shopping centres are in a select group of just 12 Australian CBD shopping centres of more than 15,000 square metres in size nationally.
Bonétt founded the Precision Group in 1994. It has owned Adelaide Central Plaza since its development in 2000 and MacArthur Central for the past 10 years.
His team, headed by ex-Westfield and Woolworths senior executive Trevor Dill, has developed the centres. Along with Apple, the mall has a Woolworths supermarket and Big W. The 15,085-square-metre centre has 39 specialty shops.
The 27,801-square-metre Adelaide Central Plaza is a luxury shopping complex, anchored by a strong-performing 22,922 sq m David Jones department store, plus a Tiffany & Co and Pandora and 44 specialty shops.
The centre also has the potential for further development of a residential tower above it.
Rooney said the plaza was at the centre of Adelaide's "super-prime" retail precinct, positioned to attract international retailers.
"Investors remain very attracted to major Australian CBD retail assets for their defensive nature and strong-income-growth, value-add profile," Rooney said.
"The drivers of CBD retail trade continue to remain strong and are being fuelled by booming international tourism and the steady inflow of international retailers.
"There is now significant potential for owners to capitalise on this increasing demand for limited prime CBD retail space from new and existing international retailers, each trying to establish and grow in the Australian market."
As for the Brisbane asset, Rooney said that MacArthur Central would benefit from a surge in population as apartment supply in inner-Brisbane is expected to peak in 2021 with the opening of Australia largest casino resort and a dramatic increase in the amount of student accommodation.
"Growth in the resident population will further broaden the demand for different retail categories, such as groceries, household goods and services," he said.
“The upswing in tourism in Queensland will drive demand for discretionary retail such as fashion and food and beverage.”
According to Tourism Research Australia, international tourist arrivals to Queensland grew by 9.7% in FY16.