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Lendlease (ASX: LLC) and one of its managed funds, Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Retail, has today sold off Craigieburn Central in a $300 million deal with boutique fund manager IP Generation.
Developed by Lendlease and opened in 2013, Craigieburn Central is located about 40km north of Melbourne’s CBD, and comprises about 157 specialty stores, including a range of major retailers and entertainment offers.
The deal represents the most competitive outcome for a regional shopping centre since the sale of the Grand Plaza Shopping Centre in Brisbane, which CBRE sold to EG Funds on behalf of Invesco early last year for $215 million.
While APPF Retail held a 75 per cent interest in the shopping centre, Lendlease owned the remaining 25 per cent.
CBRE head of retail capital markets - Pacific, Simon Rooney negotiated the sale on behalf of Lendlease.
“The sale was a highly competitive pricing outcome for APPF Retail and Lendlease, simply reflective of the attractive inherent, long term and deep value fundamentals Craigieburn Central offers, valued accordingly by proactive private capital that dominates the retail investment landscape across Australia at present,” Rooney said.
"The retail sector is set to benefit from migration, resilient spend in the face of already high interest rates and very low new supply in the market after a period of under-investment in the sector.”
Founded in 2018 by Chris Lock, Melbourne-based IP Generation is one of the most active investors in the Australian retail market, having acquired circa $1 billion in shopping centres since 2021.
Its most recent purchase includes AMP Capital Shopping Centre Fund’s (ASCF) 50 per cent stake in Perth’s Rockingham Centre for $180 million. Other assets include Victorian shopping mall Corio Village, NSW’s Bega Village and Westfield Helensvale in Queensland’s southeast.
The news comes almost three months after Lendlease joined forces with QuadReal Property Group to deliver its first built-to-rent (BTR) development in Australia - 37-level tower to be located at Brisbane’s showgrounds.
Lendlease, which has a $28 billion BTR pipeline and has delivered more than 2,600 apartments in the sector globally, estimates the project will be completed by 2025.
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