Perth shopping centre offered for sale for the first time in over a decade

11 May 2023

Woodvale Boulevard shopping centre has been listed for sale, representing the first opportunity in over 12 years to acquire this dominant neighbourhood shopping centre in the affluent northern Perth corridor.

JLL’s Nick Willis, Sam Hatcher, Nigel Freshwater and Sean Flynn, have been exclusively appointed to sell Woodvale Boulevard at 931 Whitfords Ave, Woodvale on behalf of Australian Unity via an Expressions-Of-Interest campaign.

Woodvale Boulevard is anchored by a strong performing Woolworths supermarket and supported by a diverse mix of 25 daily needs specialty retailers, providing an attractive major tenant weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of four and a half years.

The Woolworths supermarket dominates the catchment with the moving annual turnover (MAT) trading 19.5% above the Urbis benchmark, and its brand new direct-to-boot facility (STCA) will further bolster the supermarket’s strong performance upon completion.

Mr Willis said, “Woodvale Boulevard is a unique investment opportunity in the affluent northern corridor of Perth. The centre is anchored by a strong performing Woolworths which dominates the trade area, and provides additional value add opportunities.”

The Centre provides significant upside, with low average rents and low average specialty occupancy costs of 9.3%.

Mr Willis said, “The neighborhood market in Western Australia is tightly held, and more broadly, available investment supply nationally is down 17% in 2023 compared to the 5-year average. Given the sub-sectors robust performance in recent years, we have seen an accelerated level of capital shift their attention to the asset class.

“The offering of Woodvale provides an opportunity to secure a best-in-class centre in Perth, which rarely become available given the tightly held ownership structure of these centres in WA. Additionally, this is only the second full line supermarket to come to the market in WA since 2020,” said Mr Willis.

The centre is set on a 27,200 sqm land holding located in an affluent residential catchment, with average household income sitting at $121,446, 6.2% above the Western Australian average.

Mr Hatcher said, “It is unique to acquire neighborhoods that provide strong value add and growth potential, Woodvale provides a low specialty rent profile that is currently 18.7% below the Urbis benchmark, providing the opportunity for strong income growth.”

“Retail transactions have seen a slow start to 2023, with transactions this year down 30% on the 5-year average for the months of January to April. Due to the lack of activity seen so far, it is expected that Woodvale Boulevard will gain significant engagement from investors from both local and offshore capital.” said Mr Hatcher.

Located in the northern Perth corridor, in close proximity to Whitford Train station connecting the centre to amenity in the broader Northern Perth precinct.

Perth’s northern precinct benefits from significant infrastructure upgrades including $256.7 million Joondalup Health Campus expansion, $120 million Ocean Reef Marina precinct and the $20 million Wanneroo Road upgrades.

Expressions of Interest for Woodvale Boulevard, 931 Whitfords Ave, Woodvale close on Thursday, 15 June 2023.