Former Propertylink directors launch Gateway Capital with two Industrial assets

Stuart Dawes and Peter McDonald, formerly of Propertylink, have launched a new Australian real estate investment management business, Gateway Capital with two new assets and the support of Grosvenor Group through its Indirect Investment business.

Gateway Capital will initially focus on assets and strategies in the industrial and logistics sectors where value can be added through both active asset management and asset development. These strategies will be executed in areas that are forecast to benefit from strong tenant demand linked with the growth of e-commerce, together with other structural tailwinds supporting the industrial and logistics sector. Whilst the Gateway Capital strategy will commence with an industrial and logistics focus, the company will explore other asset classes over the medium term.

Gateway Capital announced the launch of its first investment vehicle, Gateway Capital Industrial Partnership (GIP), in June this year which will focus on inner and middle ring core plus and value add industrial and logistics assets on the east coast markets of Australia.

The vehicle launched with a seed asset, 655-685 Somerville Road, Sunshine West, VIC, which was acquired from a private investor for $23m. The asset is in an infill, land constrained location, providing an opportunity to add value through active tenant management and expansion initiatives. The asset features a 14,000sqm building leased to Dorel Industries with a WALE of just over 3 years on a site of approximately 2.72ha. The asset was introduced to Gateway Capital by Chris Jones of Dawkins Occhiuto.

Gateway Capital has now acquired a second industrial asset in northern Sydney at 9 Chilvers Rd Thornleigh. The 2.9ha site comprises 3 buildings providing approximately 12,300sqm of area leased to medical and pharmaceutical tenants. Several buildings are older style facilities which could be removed for further development on the site. The site has a 1:1 FSR which would allow significantly more floor space on the site than currently exists. The site sits in a small pocket of industrial land, surrounded by residential uses. In 2017, the vendor, Chilvers Investments P/L sought to have the site considered as an Urban Renewal area for mixed use and high density residential uses.

Gateway Capital has further assets in the pipeline which will see the GIP portfolio expand quickly over the coming months.

In addition to equity investment in Gateway Capital, Grosvenor has committed initial funds to help establish the GIP portfolio, which is expected to acquire over $200m of assets. Gateway Capital intends to introduce other investors to GIP over time to support the continued acquisition of assets that present value-add opportunities.

Stuart Dawes, Gateway Capital CEO & Managing Director, said, “We are very pleased to be partnering with Grosvenor in the GIP strategy, whilst also having their strategic support for the Gateway Capital business. We believe strongly in the inner urban industrial and logistics markets and are confident that our deep experience will identify assets where we can add value to create attractive core assets and ultimately deliver strong investor equity returns.”

Andy Yates, Investment Director, Indirect Investments, Grosvenor Group said “This latest partnership reflects Grosvenor’s continued commitment to Australia and specifically to its industrial and logistics sector. The Australian economy has been resilient through the Covid-19 pandemic, providing opportunities that Gateway Capital is very well placed to take advantage of.

“Leveraging our long-term successful relationships with local partners, we welcomed the opportunity to invest with Stuart and Peter again and strategically support Gateway Capital. Their experience in identifying and capitalizing on high quality opportunities in the Australian
market to deliver above market returns, puts the venture on a strong footing.”

Peter McDonald, Gateway Capital Managing Director – Property, said “The acquisition of a seed asset for GIP gives us a strong foundation to which we can build the portfolio. Whilst there will be a lot of similarities in the active management approach we employed at Propertylink, development will feature more prominently in the asset strategies implemented in the Gateway Capital business, as is evidenced by this first acquisition and further assets that will be added to the portfolio in the near term.”