Singapore listed Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has acquired a cold storage facility at 5-17 Leslie Road and 6-10 Pipe Road in Laverton North for $42.8 million
Following this Acquisition, MLT will have five logistics assets in Melbourne and a total of 13 assets in Australia with over A$870 million in assets under management and 352,400sqm of leasable space.
The Property is located within the inner west precinct of Melbourne, an established industrial and logistics region in the vicinity of MLT’s existing four properties. With excellent connectivity to major arterial routes and its close proximity to the city centre (~13km) and the Port of Melbourne (~10km), the inner west precinct is a location of choice for users from the logistics, light manufacturing and food distribution industries.
Spanning a total net lettable area (‘NLA”) of approximately 14,747 sqm, the Property is comprised of five blocks of cold and freezer warehouse (77% of NLA), ambient warehouse, office and other amenities.
The e-commerce, food and grocery sectors recorded strong growth in 2020. This in turn has supported robust demand for cold storage facilities. Despite the sector’s recent growth, Australia has a relatively low supply of cold storage facilities as compared to other developed markets. According to a Global Cold Chain Alliance report, Australia’s per capita cold storage stock in 2020 lags 3 to 4 times behind developed countries like the US, UK and Canada. Consequently, there are no vacant cold storage warehouses (>5,000 sqm) across the country.
The Property is 100% leased to Austco Polar Cold Storage for the storage, packaging and export of red meat products. The current lease expires in 2034. providing a 13 year remaining lease term.
Established since 1987, Austco Polar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Wingara AG Limited, is a national and international red meat exporter that provides blast freezing, storage and distribution services for both the domestic and international markets.
The acquisition is expected to generate an initial net property income yield of 4.3%.
In Brisbane, Cushman & Wakefield have also sold a Cold Storage portfolio for $67.2m on behalf of OzProp Capital. The transaction was completed on a yield of 5.5%
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