Australian owned commercial real estate group, Stonebridge Property Group (SPG), is growing again with leading retail agent Rorey James joining as Director, together with Nic Hage, Manager and Kate Johnstone, Senior Operations and Marketing recently joining the team.

The team will continue to focus on the suburban strip retail market together with the service station + fast food convenience market, where they were responsible for more than 350 transactions over the last 6 years, culminating in well over $2 billion in sales. This will be the first time Stonebridge has had a dedicated focus towards the specialised strip retail market since it’s inception in 2008.

The new partnership will see Rorey join Stonebridge Justin Dowers and Julian White, together with a dedicated and experienced Asia Practice division, headed up by Kevin Tong and Chao Zhang.

Justin Dowers said “What is most important with regard to growth of the business, is the improvement in our service offering. Having worked with Rorey for close to a decade, I know he and his team will only complement the existing retail team, increasing the breadth of assets and clients that we can service with dedicated professionals.”

Rorey James said “Our number one focus will be the clients in each of our respective markets. We are in a great position where can service these clients better than ever, with specialised teams set up to allow us to be more focussed on each core market.”

He also noted that with just under half (43%) of those 350 sales mentioned above selling to Asian investors (based locally and offshore), it was a terrific opportunity for his team and his vendors to capitalise on joining a business with the most experienced Asia Practice platform in the country.

“Kevin and Chao have collectively over 20 years’ experience in dealing with the Asian market, culminating in $3 billion+ of transactions in the last five years. We are really excited at the opportunities this invaluable experience and expertise will provide for our clients at Stonebridge.”

“We are delighted to welcome Rorey and his team to the Stonebridge fold. We have long admired the professionalism, dedication and sales success that they have achieved over many years. We see them as key operatives to allow Stonebridge’s to diversify our reach across all retail sub-asset classes and price points” - Phil Gartland, Stonebridge Sydney.

Rorey noted said that within his Strip Retail Investments team, they saw firsthand a noticeable increase in buyer and tenant enquiry in 2020. “COVID 19 has forced us to spend more time at home and within our own country. This shift has not gone unnoticed, and it may become a more permanent trend, boding very well for suburban retail generally.”

Stonebridge was founded in 2008 in Sydney by Jonathan Fox, Carl Molony, Phil Gartland and Lincoln Blackledge, and with the addition of a Melbourne office, it now enjoys a true national platform, with substantial buyer reach across Australia and Asia.