AMP scouting out Cairns Central shopping central

AMP Capital Investors’ shopping centre division is reportedly considering a bid for the Cairns Central shopping centre.

The 52,725-square-metre, two-level centre was put up for sale by joint owners Westfield and Lend Lease earlier this year with a price tag in excess of $450 million following a dispute lasting four years.

Simon Rooney from Jones Lang LaSalle is handling the sales process.

Representatives of AMP Capital Shopping Centres have been in Cairns inspecting the centre.

A local shopping centre expert told The Cairns Post the representatives were undertaking a valuation of the shopping centre along with the due diligence.

"They are one of many looking at Cairns Central, but there are really only half a dozen realistic buyers," he says.

Stockland is another potential buyer, and current half-owners Westfield or Lend Lease’s Australian Prime Property Fund Retail might buy the other out.

AMP Capital Investors owns about $20 billion in property assets including 14 shopping centres in NSW, three in Queensland, four in Victoria, three in Western Australia, one in the Northern Territory and four in New Zealand.

Prominent centres in the AMP portfolio include the Macquarie in Sydney, which is due for a $350 million makeover, and Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast, expected to be redeveloped at a cost of $450 million.

A spokesperson for AMP says the company does not comment on speculation about portfolio sales or purchases but says visiting centres across Australia is part of its “day-to-day operations” as the owner of a large shopping centre portfolio.

Major tenants include Myer, Target, Coles, BI-LO, a six-screen Birch, Carroll and Coyle cinema complex, along with JB Hi-Fi and174 specialty shops.