Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre, one of Melbourne’s Best Income-Producing Landbank Opportunities comes to market

The 10.6-hectare prime, impeccably located land holding is set to benefit from its dominant growth corridor location and presents investors with an opportunity for immediate scale and continued growth.

A 100% interest in the Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre is being offered to the market, providing investors with an opportunity to acquire 106,000 sqm of freehold Melbourne land securely underpinned by a rare triple-supermarket anchored Sub-Regional Shopping Centre.

Situated in affluent south-east Melbourne, Waverley Gardens is a convenience focused retail offering with occupational and income resilience derived from the dominant 71% gross income weighting toward non-discretionary, services and food tenants and secure 5.3 year WALE (by area).

Acquired by Elanor Investors and an affiliate of Heitman in 2018, the active fund manager has undertaken a successful $24 million repositioning of the former Target Discount Department Store, repurposing the asset with the relocation of ALDI, and introduction of Henry Mercato, TK Maxx, and a dedicated fresh food and health services precincts.

Stonebridge’s Carl Molony, Philip Gartland and Justin Dowers, alongside JLL’s Retail Investments Team – (Australia) Nick Willis, Sam Hatcher, and Stuart Taylor, have been exclusively appointed to sell Waverley Gardens via an Expressions-Of-Interest campaign.

Waverley Gardens is strategically located at the intersection of the Monash Freeway (M1) and Eastlink (M3), providing seamless connection to the future North East Link and access to an outstanding 1.35 million people within a 20-minute drive time. The property’s population access and its role as a transit hub will be further bolstered by the completion of the North East Link, one of Melbourne’s largest infrastructure projects currently under construction to create Melbourne’s first orbital road network.

Mr Molony said,

“Sub-Regional Centres have witnessed an influx of capital due to their strong investment thematic, offering a secure cash flow, and in the case of Waverley Gardens, underpinned by a flexible C1 zoned land holding and replacement cost in excess of investment value. The ability for these town centre locations to evolve over time to become vibrant mixed-use precincts, or to satisfy last mile infill demand, is appealing to core and core plus capital given the combined total returns from the retail and development components satisfy their investor return hurdles”.

Mr Willis said,

“The campaign presents an unmissable opportunity for both traditional retail investors and mixed-use capital. The Centre is among an elite collective of Sub-Regional Centres, being one of only ten assets in metropolitan Melbourne with a land size exceeding 10 hectares, of which, Waverley Gardens is the only asset readily available for an incoming purchaser to acquire a 100% controlling interest. The land holding will drive the investment underwrite, with the scarcity of land across the Melbourne metropolitan area being a major contributor to total investment returns. The rarity of Waverley Gardens’ land holding is further bolstered by its ability to be utilised for an array of alternative uses, subject to approvals,”