Knight Frank and SCA Property Group (ASX: SCP) have entered into a strategic three-year partnership to deliver property services, facilities management and financial accounting across SCA Property Group’s entire shopping centre portfolio.

SCA Property Group is an internally managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with a portfolio of quality sub-regional and neighbourhood shopping centres and freestanding retail assets focused on convenience retailing across Australia.

This partnership between SCA Property Group and Knight Frank marks the beginning of a new era for the operational management of the SCA Property Group portfolio, with the REIT moving to a single asset management provider.

An extensive review of SCA Property Group’s business model highlighted that a single provider model would unlock immediate advantages including driving greater performance, unlocking asset growth and value creation, particularly as SCA continues to rapidly grow the size of its portfolio.

Knight Frank Partner and National Head of Asset Management Services Lisa Atkins said Knight Frank’s appointment to SCA Property Group’s portfolio would support the core strategy of SCA Property Group’s business now and its growth ambitions into the future.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with SCA Property Group to deliver wholistic property services and we look forward to driving a greater performance for the properties in its portfolio to create greater value for investors.

“Knight Frank is one of the only asset managers in Australia with a local reach across regional and metro Australia, which was one of the biggest drawcard’s for SCA Property Group, as it aligned with its own portfolio footprint.

“Neighbourhood and sub-regional centres have always been a core part of the community, but this has only been strengthened during COVID as it was one of the only places people could visit and connect.

“Our local presence will enable us to manage each asset in line with the unique needs of individual communities, with the importance of the centre for locals always being front of mind.”

Against the backdrop of continued growth in retail spending in Australia, neighbourhood and sub- regional shopping centres have outperformed other retail centres nationally over the past year in terms of capital growth, demonstrating their value in the Australian retail landscape.

According to MSCI, neighbourhood centres experienced average capital growth of 8.6 per cent, followed by sub-regional centres (5.1 per cent), regional centres (2.9 per cent) and major regional centres (0.7 per cent).

Knight Frank Partner and Chief Executive Officer James Patterson said the strategic partnership with SCA Property Group was an exciting appointment for Knight Frank.

“This partnership marks significant growth for Knight Frank in its management of retail assets, with several hundred centres now under our care,” he said.

“We look forward to delivering the best possible property services for SCA Property Group and seeing the results of our active management benefit our partner over the years to come.”