Greenpool Capital and Savills Investment Management have purchased the Forest Lakes Shopping Centre in Perth’s south-eastern suburbs for $81.5 million.

Located in the inner-Perth suburb of Thornlie, 15km from the CBD, and anchored by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, the 14,577sqm GLA shopping centre has a WALE of 8.0 years across the supermarkets, 42 speciality shops, kiosks and pad sites.

CBRE’s Simon Rooney and James Douglas managed the off-market sale campaign, which generated strong interest from listed and unlisted institutional capital and private investors.

“The interest in Forest Lakes Shopping Centre underlines the strong demand for non-discretionary assets despite rising interest rates,” Mr Rooney said.

“There remains strong capital demand and therefore liquidity for quality retail assets, particularly assets which are tightly held, with Forest Lakes an example of a deep and broad pool of investors having conviction about an opportunity and pursing it.”

Forest Lakes transacts as another Perth triple-supermarket-anchored shopping centre, Southlands Boulevarde, hits the market as part of a wider portfolio from global real estate group Lendlease.

The portfolio includes Menai Marketplace in Sydney and Settlement City in Port Macquarie, NSW, with CBRE also handling this process.

Forest Lakes is the third retail acquisition for Perth-based Greenpool Capital and follows its purchases of North Adelaide Village, Adelaide and Runaway Bay Shopping Centre on the Gold Coast since December 2020.

“Greenpool Capital in collaboration with Savills Investment Management are excited to announce the fully underwritten exchange of contracts on Forest Lakes Shopping Centre,” Brad Osborne, Managing Director of Greenpool Capital, said.

“The centre is 97% occupied, has an MAT of $128.8 million with specialty productivity 14% above benchmark, it trades at a remarkably low specialty occupancy cost.

“Neighbourhood shopping centres continue to prove resilient in a post-pandemic era, offering superior risk adjusted returns for investors. Greenpool is currently preparing an Information Memorandum for the investment opportunity and welcome interest from wholesale investors.”

Greg Lapham, Head of Investment Australia at Savills Investment Management, added: “We look forward to taking ownership of this asset and furthering the asset’s presence as a focal point for the local community by offering a wide range of daily and essential needs.”

Forest Lakes is situated on the corner of Forest Lakes Drive and Murdoch Road and offers easy access to the area’s two main arterial routes, Warton Road and Garden Street.

“The centre occupies a prominent and land-rich site in excess of 6.6 hectares, including additional sundry, retail-permissible zoned land to facilitate various value-add initiatives over time,” Mr Douglas added.

“The supermarkets are exceptional performers, contributing to in excess of $100 million in sales and are complemented by a relatively low provision of specialty shops, performing above industry benchmarks.”

To request a sales analysis please contact the selling agents CBRE’s Simon Rooney and James Douglas via the below contact details.