Haben goes shopping for a slice of Townsville’s retail heart

An AMP Capital-managed fund put its stake in Stockland Townsville shopping centre on the market.

Property funds house Haben has moved on the half stake of Stockland Townsville being offloaded by an AMP Capital fund, as the big reset of retail property ripples through the sector.

The group is understood to have conducted due diligence on a half stake in the centre at a price approaching $130m, showing a discount to the co-owner’s book value.

The Townsville deal on the regional shopping centre is being handled by JLL’s Nick Willis and Sam Hatcher but they and the parties declined to comment. The impending sale of stake by the now Dexus-run AMP Capital Shopping Centre Fund partly shows the recalibration of the broader retail industry but also the value that buyers are finding in geographies with strong growth.

The North Queensland region in which the centre sits is benefiting from strong resources industry growth and the return of tourism.

The centre is the top retail mall in the Townsville area and houses a Myer, the only full-line department store for almost 350km.

It is co-anchored by retail heavyweights Woolworths and Big W, all secured by long leases, and sits on a significant 9.9ha site at one of Townsville’s busiest intersections.

The property includes 2.6ha of prime town centre development land set across multiple lots, which may suit Haben, which has the capacity to undertake value-add and mixed-use plays.

Co-owner and centre manager Stockland, which held its interest in the asset at $150m on a 6.25 per cent cap rate, could work with the new buyer on ways to realise value.

Haben is at the vanguard of the boutique property funds managers resetting the retail market, alongside players like IP Generation. That group is buying Craigieburn Central in Melbourne for more than $300m, and also outlaid $185m for a half stake in Westfield Helensvale in South East Queensland. It picked up a half stake in WA‘s Rockingham Centre for $180m.

Haben last month finalised a $256.5m deal to buy the Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs from US group Blackstone in another sign of the retail market resetting.

AMP picked up its stake in Stockland Townsville in 2014 from the listed developer for $228.7m. That included a half interest in a separate Coles and Kmart which was sold last year to a syndicate headed by fund managers Mark Slot and Benlee Capital’s John Dalley for $47.25m.

The drop in shopping centres has come ahead of offices and warehouses, with much of the pain taken in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The impending sale supports the return of retail investors as Queensland hits new highs. Retail deals made up more than 40 per cent of sales volumes in 2022 with investors gravitating towards the Sunshine State.

Regional transaction volumes have averaged $1.2bn annually over the past 10 years. But in 2022, only one regional centre was traded when Sentinel Property Group bought Caneland Central Shopping Centre for $280m.

The 45,000sq m Stockland Townsville has Rebel, Priceline, Country Road, Cotton On Mega, The Reject Shop, Best & Less and more than 130 specialty stores.

The property recently underwent a repurposing of its former H&M into three new “mini-major” tenancies.