In a brilliant beginning for its new Victorian asset management business, Leedwell Property has secured two significant Large Format Retail contracts – Melton Gateway and Primewest Geelong Gateway.
Melton Gateway is a large format retail and lifestyle centre with 10 tenancies comprising 12,000sqm of gross leasable area with major retailers including Good Guys, Chemist Warehouse, and McDonald’s among seven other national brands. Primewest Geelong Gateway is a 20,000sqm centre with 14 tenancies including major brands such as Fantastic Furniture, Freedom, and BCF.
“This really is an ideal start for our new asset management business here in Victoria and we have a collective desire to grow the portfolio further,” said Chris Parry, Managing Partner for Leedwell Property Victoria.
“It confirms that Leedwell’s bespoke approach and specialist large format retail expertise is well regarded in the Victorian market. Expanding into Victoria 18 months ago from South Australia, Leedwell has established a solid foundation in leasing and sales, including negotiated the recent sale of Geelong Gateway to Primewest for $44.2 million.
“We always intended to bring our asset management experience to the Victorian market and after a year and a half everything lined up, and we couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Chris said.
One of the key factors in launching the asset management arm was Richard Emary’s decision to join Leedwell Property Victoria as Senior Property Manager, bringing with him more than 15 years in retail management with global property agencies including JLL and CBRE where he gained enormous experience across enclosed shopping centres as well large format retail centres.
The Leedwell Property Group has been in operation since 2009, with the three founding directors, John Savva, Steve Smith and Andrew Zammit setting up a business that now employs over 40 full-time staff in two states.