Two more Geelong shopping centres hit the market

Corio Central is set to become the region’s most expensive shopping centre to sell in a year when almost $200 million worth of assets has already changed hands.

The northern suburbs shopping hub has been put on the market along with Belmont Village in a national portfolio of 14 individual assets by national retail landlord Vicinity Centres.

Vicinity, which co-owns of Melbourne’s Emporium and Chadstone complexes with property billionaire John Gandel, announced plans in June to offload up to $1 billion worth of subregional and neighbourhood centres.

Commercial Insights: Subscribe to receive the latest news and updates

Proceeds from the sale would be used on redevelopments at major centres including The Glen and Box Hill Central in Melbourne, Galleria in Perth and Chatswood Chase and Bankstown Central in Sydney.

JLL’s head of retail investments in Australasia, Simon Rooney, is handling the sale.

Rooney says the shopping centres are being offered in a national portfolio of 14 shopping centres, but the assets could be sold off individually.

Belmont Village Shopping Centre is on the market. Owner Vicinity Centres lists its book value at $50 million.

Other centres in the portfolio are located in New South Wales, southeast Queensland and Western Australia.

The expressions of interest campaign closes on August 23.

Vicinity Centres listed Corio Central’s value at $130 million in its interim results published in February, while Belmont Village was worth $50 million.

Corio Central is Geelong’s fourth-largest shopping centre behind Westfield Geelong, Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre, and Leopold’s Gateway Plaza (including Bunnings), with more than 31,000sqm of floorspace.

Corio Central Shopping Centre has been listed for sale among a portfolio of 14 assets across the country. Owner Vicinity Centres reports its book value is $130 million.

It is anchored by Kmart, Coles and Woolworths, with a total trade area forecast to grow to more than 62,000 people by 2027.

Major retail expenditure generated in the total trade area, estimated at $700 million, is expected to grow to $929 million by 2027.

Vicinity Centres was also involved in the $117 million sale of Gateway Plaza to Charter Hall Retail Fund in June.

Earlier shopping centre sales in the region include Bellarine Village, which sold for $36.5 million to a private investor from Melbourne, while Toorak-based investor David Feldman acquired Torquay Village from Coles for $35 million in February.

Kmart is an anchor tenant at Corio Central Shopping Centre.

Corio Central opened in 1973 as Corio Village.

A Vicinity Centres spokesman says it’s business as usual at the shopping centres.

“There’s an expression of interest process currently underway as part of Vicinity’s recent announcement to target around $1 billion of asset sales,” the spokesman says.

“We can’t comment beyond that at this stage, in the past speculation has been unhelpful to the sale process.”

This article from the Geelong Advertiser originally appeared as “Vicinity Centres shops for a buyer for Corio Central, Belmont centres”.