Woolies, Dan Murphy’s key to Bellarine Village sale

Dual anchor tenants Woolworths and Dan Murphy’s are expected to create interest in Bellarine Village Shopping Centre, which has been listed for sale.

The 10,443sqm neighbourhood centre at Newcomb is expected to sell for above $32 million.

It’s the second shopping centre in eastern Geelong to hit the market in as many months after Leopold’s Gateway Plaza, anchored by Coles, Kmart, Bunnings and Aldi, was offered in March.

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CBRE national director investments, Mark Wizel, said Bellarine Village’s leasing profile — which had 80 per cent of floorspace leased to big national brands including The Reject Shop, Australia Post, Hungry Jack’s and NAB — its location and the catchment combining eastern Geelong and passing Bellarine Peninsula traffic provided a compelling investment opportunity.

Wizel, who is marketing the property with Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong, says the shopping centre provides a strategic “defensive asset” for investors and a secure income from largely national tenants.

The proportion of national tenants in Bellarine Village Shopping Centre is expected to be attractive to buyers. Picture: Mark Wilson.

Most neighbourhood shopping centres had a 50-50 mix of national and local retailers. National tenants are more likely to be long-term and provide a more secure income, he says.

Conditions are ripe for the Resofsky family, which bought the centre in 2009, to shop for buyers for their retail assets, he says.

“Our vendor is buoyed by the result of Pakington Strand (which sold for $32 million in 2016). They thought now might be a good time to sell,” he says.

“There is a bit of a generational shift in these kinds of assets. Combine that with low interest rates, smart people are not going to let that opportunity go.”

“When the cost of borrowing is less, people can afford to pay more the properties,” he says.

Bellarine Village Shopping Centre at Newcomb. Picture: Mark Wilson.

Bellarine Village has a 25-year lease to Woolworths, 15-year leases to Dan Murphy’s and Hungry Jack’s and five-year leases to The Reject Shop and Woolworths Petrol, returning about $2.3 million year. Other long-term tenants include Nardi’s Cellarbrations, Peak Pharmacy, Salon Rouge and Town & Country Pizza.

The 2.3ha site has four street frontages, four access points and has parking for 315 cars.

Wizel says Geelong’s forecast 32% population increase to 2036 will deliver a catchment to underpin the centre.

“That is exactly what investors are looking for. The fact that we are now seeing shopping centre investments within Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula trade at similar returns and pricing levels to metropolitan Melbourne adds to the attraction,’’ he says.

Dowers says the fact that Geelong’s retail properties operate without the level of competition that retailers might experience in Melbourne’s outer suburbs is another attribute that will entice savvy investors to Geelong.

This article from the Geelong Advertiser first appeared as “Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s will be key to sale of Bellarine Village”.