HMC Capital has expanded its HomeCo Last Mile Retail Logistics (LML) Fund with the $107 million acquisition of Brandon Park Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s south-east.

The property was sold by JLL’s Stuart Taylor, Nick Willis & Jesse Radisich together with CBRE’s Simon Rooney, James Douglas and David Minty, on behalf of Newmark Capital.

LML is an unlisted wholesale fund focused on essential daily needs properties with growth upside.  

Brandon Park was acquired by Newmark Capital in 2017, with development approval obtained in 2022 to add further medical, retail, commercial and residential usages across the site, which is designated as a ‘Major Activity Centre’ under planning controls.

The significant Melbourne asset encompasses 5.81 hectares of land with a retail centre anchored by Coles and Aldi. 

It currently offers a gross lettable area of 23,038sqm, reflecting a low site coverage of 40%. In addition to the supermarket anchors, the centre offers five mini-majors and 86 specialty tenancies and kiosks.

JLL’s Stuart Taylor commented “The sub-regional sector continues to receive very strong demand, particularly those in metropolitan locations, driven by ability to achieve appealing yield spread to the risk-free rate and opportunities to drive enhance via under-utilisedland. Low volumes of retail transactions YTD, particularly in Victoria, is a result of a supply-demand imbalance, with participation levels in Brandon Park demonstrating the depth of investor appetite.”

CBRE’s Mr Rooney noted, “The offered attracted keen interest from a wide range of investors given its metropolitan Melbourne location coupled with the opportunity to enhance the retail offering via strategic repositioning. The site also offers future potential for a large scale, mixed-use development opportunity subject to the relevant planning approvals. Shopping centres are increasingly evolving into multi-dimensional precincts, with Brandon Park providing the ideal platform to deliver a future project of scale and flexibility.”

Situated in Wheelers Hill, approximately 19km south-east of the Melbourne CBD and 2km from Monash University, the centre provides convenient access to major arterial roads and broader Melbourne from its corner location on Springvale Road and Ferntree Gully Road. 

The asset is strategically positioned to Melbourne’s workforce, adjacent to Victoria’s largest employment hub outside of the CBD, the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC). 

The location provides a robust main trade area of 85,870 residents and a local workforce of 6,000 within a 1km radius driving retail performance, while creating demographics and demand drivers supportive of mixed-use development.

“The Brandon Park campaign generated interest from a large cross-section of buyers, notably from several new entrant private capital sources, who are increasingly looking to the retail sector as one of the value plays of the current cycle.”

“Decerning investors are seeing enormous opportunity in Melbourne shopping centres, understanding that such assets can provide attractive risk adjusted returns, underpinned by a surging population and constrained supply” Taylor added.