TAC building fetches Geelong’s biggest ever price

The Transport Accident Commission’s waterfront headquarters has sold in Geelong’s biggest ever property deal.

The 5475sq m site at 60 Brougham St set a new record price for property in the region, selling for $115.25 million to a subsidiary of ASX-listed investment manager Centuria Capital Group.

The unconditional sale settled on Thursday.

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Centuria Property Funds Limited took the keys to the six-storey building from Impact Investment Group.

Impact set a then-record $95.8 million when it bought the asset in 2014.

The TAC building’s sale is Geelong’s largest ever. Picture: Peter Ristevski.

The sale will earn the Melbourne-based funds manager about $20 million on its three-year investment, representing a 16% increase in the property’s value.

The property will be acquired by the Centuria Geelong Office Fund, a new single asset unlisted property fund which will be launched in February through which small investors can buy a piece of the building.

The A-grade building is 100% occupied, with 94% of its income underpinned by the long-term lease to the TAC, a AAA-rated State Government entity.

With more than 10 years of the TAC’s secure lease remaining, and a starting distribution of 7 per cent per annum to be paid monthly, Centuria Property Funds chief executive Jason Huljich expects strong demand from investors in the new Geelong fund.

The Transport Accident Commission occupies 94% of the building.

Huljich says the investment had a five-year outlook.

“The building is centrally located in the thriving regional city of Geelong, which is benefiting from the relocation of a number of Government agencies, including WorkSafe and the National Disability Insurance Agency,” Huljich says.

“The acquisition complements our investment philosophy and offers reliable, long term income for investors.”

Huljich says the deal is one of its biggest in a regional area and was completed after research underpinned a bullish outlook for the Geelong region.

Geelong’s TAC headquarters.

“We saw what’s happening in Geelong, with the government departments moving down there. We are actually quite excited about it,” he says.

Centuria has $4.5 billion in assets under management after the deal.

The TAC headquarters opened in 2009, winning a commercial architecture award for designers McGauran Gianni Soon and ML Design before developer FKP sold the property for more than $85 million.

The transaction comes as WorkSafe prepares to start its relocation to Geelong in February and construction ramps up on the NDIA headquarters, which is expected to be completed by late 2018.

This article from the Geelong Advertiser was originally published as “TAC building sells in Geelong’s biggest-ever property deal”.