Deepwater Plaza sold for $111 million, completing $284.1 million in disposals by Dexus

Deepwater Plaza, Woy Woy has been sold to a private investor for $111.0 million as interest in convenience focused sub-regional centres continues to increase.

Simon Rooney, CBRE’s Head of Retail Capital Markets – Pacific, negotiated the off-market sale of the Central Coast property on a core capitalisation rate of 6.50%.

The Deepwater deal was undertaken on behalf of a Dexus managed fund and follows on from disposals of Shepparton Marketplace ($88.1 million) and Beenleigh Marketplace ($85 million) in 2022, also negotiated off-market by CBRE.

Deepwater Plaza is a dominant, convenience focused sub-regional shopping complex located 84km north of Sydney. The 17,417sqm Woy Woy centre is anchored by an exceptionally strong performing Coles supermarket and Kmart discount department store with combined MAT of $84.1m, and providing an attractive major tenant WALE of 5.6 years (by GLA).

The strong trading major tenant profile is well-supported by a variety of national and chain retailers, which represent approximately 90% of the centre’s tenanted GLA and 85% of the gross rental income.

“This transaction demonstrates the shift in investor focus and renewed demand for sub-regional centres, specifically for assets with a clear focus on non-discretionary spending and genuine value-add opportunities,” Mr Rooney said, noting that over $700 million had been transacted in this sub-sector year to date.

“Investors were attracted by Deepwater Plaza’s robust major tenant and overall sales performance, coupled with the centre’s strong specialty productivity of $10,007/sqm and sustainable occupancy cost of 11.5%.”

The centre is positioned on a strategic 42,910sqm freehold site adjoining Woy Woy railway station and benefits from a favourable planning scheme offering both immediate and longer-term value-add opportunities via targeted specialty re-leasing and mixed-use development avenues subject to the relevant planning approvals.