Regional Childcare Asset Trades For $7,000,000 and 6.08% Yield To Interstate Private Investor

Stonebridge has negotiated the $7,000,000 sale of Bright Steps Academy Calala, a childcare centre in Tamworth, NSW, on a yield of 6.08%, as investor demand builds for regional, long-leased childcare assets and a growing pool of interstate capital targets NSW’s favourable land tax exemption for the sector.

The result reflects a broader shift in investor appetite toward regional childcare assets, as discerning buyers look beyond metropolitan for scale and attractive returns. It also points to a widening flow of interstate capital into NSW, where childcare centres are exempt from land tax, a holding cost advantage increasingly shaping purchaser acquisition decisions.

The purpose built 120-place centre sits on a substantial 3,237sqm* landholding and is secured by a rare 20 year net lease to 2045, with options extending to 2065, alongside market leading fixed 3.5% annual rent increases. The tenant, Bright Steps Academy, is a family owned and rapidly expanding operator with 17+ locations nationally.

The asset delivers a net income of $426,000 per annum* plus GST, secured by a four-month bank guarantee, and is ideally positioned 100m* from a major primary school with 857 students, benefitting from 40m* of street frontage to a sub-arterial road.

The sale was brokered by Stonebridge Property Group’s Brett O’Neill, Michael Collins and Tom Moreland, in conjunction with LAWD Commercial’s Oliver Smith. Recording more than 140 enquiries across the campaign, the asset received strong competition from private investors nationally and ultimately traded hands to an interstate investor who was drawn to the land tax exempt nature of the asset, alongside the long 20 year net lease to a national operator.

Brett O’Neill, Senior Executive at Stonebridge Property Group, noted: “Private investors are increasingly targeting assets positioned to benefit from sustainable population growth and family-centric demographics, which underpins sustainable occupancy and provides excellent long term income security.”

Michael Collins, Partner at Stonebridge, added: “NSW’s land tax exemption on childcare assets has become a genuine point of competitive advantage, and is now a deciding factor for investors choosing where to deploy capital across state lines.”

As market leaders in the childcare sector, Stonebridge is marketing a further eight centres in the July iteration of its National Portfolio – building on a standout year that saw the group broker more than $400 million in childcare sales across 63 centres nationally.