Four Perth property sales worth $210 million have been announced in the past fortnight, including Herdsman’s largest office building, an iconic city shopping arcade and two industrial properties.
The largest deal was the $106.7 million sale of the Optima Centre, an A-grade office building with a net lettable area of 16,116 square metres.
The purchaser was MGP Asien Spezialfonds, a German investment fund set up by private equity group MGPA to target purchases in the Asia Pacific region.
Former owners ABN Group and Macquarie Group entities sold the four-year old building through an off-market competitive process.
MGPA’s Australia director Hamish MacDonald said he expected increased investment demand for high quality properties, “leading to an attractive supply demand dynamic and therefore rental growth potential”.
“We believe there is a disconnect between the high investment yields available in Perth and the potential for rental growth relative to other markets in Australia,” Mr MacDonald said.
The Optima Centre is mostly (83 per cent) leased to government tenants, and delivers a passing yield of 8.6 per cent.
Plaza Arcade in central Perth has also gone to an overseas buyer, for a price of $48 million.
The buyer was Singapore-based Starhill Global REIT, which already owns the adjoining David Jones building.
YTL Stahill Global chief executive Ho Sing said Plaza Arcarde’s yield was 7.8 per cent, similar to the David Jones building it bought in 2010.
Mr Sing said there were potential synergies between the buildings, which have unutilised space on the upper levels.
“Connections and potential integration and use of the unitilised space between the two buildings will be studied at a later stage,” he said in a statement.
The vendors were local investors Con Berbatis and George Atzemis and the sale was negotiated by Lease Equity managing director Jim Tsagalis, whose firm manages the property.
The purchase price was equal to an independent valuation by Colliers.
In the industrial sector, Perth-based GM Property Group has closed a $10.5 million deal on a warehouse in Canning Vale.
The property at 28-32 Gauge Circuit marks the fourth syndicate for GM Property, headed by former Lester Group executives Blair Gerrard and Simon Munckton.
The 18,356sqm property is fully leased to Mitre 10 and logistics group Parkcentre Marketing Services.
It was secured in an off-market deal brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle's Nick Goodridge, at a passing yield of 8.75 per cent.
The fourth major Perth property set to change hands, via an internal Charter Hall transaction, is the Coles Distribution Centre at Perth Airport.
The newly established Charter Hall Direct Industrial Fund No 2 has announced plans to acquire a 25 per cent interest in the Coles centre for $45.9 million.
The sale price reflected the latest independent valuation of the entire proeprty of $183.5 million by Savills in November 2012.
It will be one of two initial investments by the Fund, which is also acquiring an Australia Post distribution centre in Melbourne.
The balance of the Coles property will be retained by two other Charter Hall funds.
