Leading Western Australian property fund manager, Westbridge Funds Management, has added two  blue-chip medical assets to its Total Return Fund – the Sundew Day Surgery in Joondalup and the Forrest Family Practice in South Bunbury. 

The addition of the two assets supports the Fund’s dual strategy to deliver regular income while  tapping into medium-term growth prospects through exposure to high-demand sectors. 

The Sundew Day Surgery is a modern, purpose-built day hospital located in the Joondalup Town Centre and is tenanted by Australia’s second largest day hospital operator, Nexus Hospitals. The asset offers an attractive WALE of 5.70 years (as at 1 June 2024) with two 5-year lease extension  options providing strong tenant retention prospects.  

The scarcity of suitable land in Joondalup for medical services facilities combined with strong northern corridor population growth demonstrates strong potential for rental uplift. 

The Forrest Family Practice, located in the Bunbury Town Centre, is fully leased to national  healthcare provider, ForHealth, on a robust WALE of 7.13 years (as at 1 June 2024). 

The asset provides a long-term market linked income stream through CPI rent reviews, with potential  for minor refurbishment to bolster the asset’s rental and capital value. 

Both assets were brokered by Simon Quinn, Head of Alternative Investments and Nigel Freshwater,  Senior Director (Capital Markets) at JLL and Derek Barlow, Director (Capital Markets) at CBRE. 

Westbridge’s Head of Capital Transactions, Simon Worth, said: “The Sundew Day Surgery and  Forrest Family Practice add blue-chip income streams to the Total Return Fund to support  consistency of distributions, while also capitalising on what we believe is a softening in the cycle for  Australia’s sought-after medical sector.”  

“The construction of new specialised medical facilities has fallen behind the access requirements of  Australia’s growing, and ageing, population. At the same time, rising construction and labour costs to  both build new facilities and replace existing facilities will continue to exacerbate the scarcity of these  vital infrastructrure assets, underpinning strong medium-term growth potential.” 

There are now five assets totalling $52m under management in the Total Return Fund, including a  high-demand refridgeration facility in the core industrial precinct of Lytton, QLD, a neighbourhood  retail centre in regional QLD, and the Hampstead Hotel and adjacent First Choice liqour store in  Collinswood, SA. 

Chairman of Westbridge Funds Management, Damian Collins, said: “These two assets will play  an important role in supporting the Fund’s robust income stream while we work through the value-add  strategies across the Fund’s portfolio, supporting our ultimate aim of delivering the “Total Return”  that’s central to the Fund’s mandate.”

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