GPT has completed the sale of the largest shopping centre in the Northern Territory, Casuarina Square, exchanging contracts with Sentinel for $420m
The sale was completed near to GPT’s book value which was slashed by $100m midway through 2020 when GPT cut the value of its directly held retail portfolio by nearly 9%. The Darwin mall was written down to $415.6 million on a cap rate of 6.25% from a previous value of $516.6 million based on a 5.75% cap rate in mid-2019.
The 55,000sqm Centre is anchored by a Big W, K Mart, Coles, Woolworths and 199 specialty stores. GPT built the Centre in 1973 and been upgraded on four occasions. The most recent was a three-stage redevelopment that was completed in December 1998 adding 63 specialty stores and the 7-screen BCC Cinemas. The Centre reportedly attracts an average of 153,000 million customer visits per week, which is significant for a city with a population of around 150,000 people.
Sentinel is completing the capital raising with a forecast 7% annual return. The Group has a strong track record of acquiring high yielding investments across northern Australia. Sentinel is already one of the largest single owners of office space in Darwin, and holds major assets in Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns as well as regional NSW and the ACT.
GPT confirmed the exchange of contracts with a net sale price of $397 million. Settlement of the transaction is expected prior to the end of March 2022 with proceeds from the sale redeployed into new opportunities to generate long-term value for investors.
GPT indicated that Casuarina Square was considered a non-core asset for GPT and GWSCF which follows the sale of Wollongong Central which sold late last year to Haben for $400m and Norton Plaza which was sold in late 2019 for $153m.
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