JY Group boosts Australian shopping centre portfolio to over $2bn with major acquisition

The Hong Kong based JY Group has expanded its Australian shopping centre portfolio with the $123 million acquisition of Melbourne’s Roxburgh Village.

The purchase lifts the value of JY Group’s Australian shopping centre assets to over $2 billion following last year’s acquisition of a 50% stake in Sydney’s Carlingford Court and the recent acquisition of Melbourne’s Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre together with Haben.

CBRE’s Simon Rooney negotiated the off-market sale together with James Douglas on behalf of Vicinity Centres (VCX).

The transaction was struck at a 8.8% premium to VCX’s June 2023 book value, reflecting a passing yield of approximately 7.25% and a fully leased yield of 7.74%. The asset is expected to be fully leased before settlement in March next year and continues to be managed by VCX.

Simon Rooney, CBRE’s Head of Retail Capital Markets – Pacific, noted, “The result demonstrates continued demand and ready liquidity for well-located, quality metropolitan sub-regional assets with a focus on shopper convenience, non-discretionary food, service and necessity-based spending such as that offered at the busy Roxburgh Village.

Mr Rooney said the VCX offering had attracted keen interest from primarily private based capital, given the potential for future mixed-use development, subject to the relevant planning approvals, to capitalise on the centre’s highly sought after metropolitan Melbourne location and immediate proximity to Roxburgh train station.

The north Melbourne site’s development potential, solid underlying cash flow, coupled with the centre’s landmark location in a population growth catchment, were key drawcards for JY Group.

Situated 23km north of the Melbourne CBD, Roxburgh Village is a 25,972sqm single level sub-regional centre, with anchors Coles, ALDI supermarkets and Sacca’s Fine Foods representing 48% of the GLA.

The centre is situated on a strategic, land rich 114,200sqm metropolitan site and provides car parking for 1,096 vehicles.

The centre benefits from a significant total trade area population of 53,561 persons located within a growth catchment as well as an impressive total centre annual turnover of $143.6 million, with supermarket turnover of $86.8 million (+11.7% YoY).