Hawaiian buys Forrestfield shops in $40m deal

Retail developer Hawaiian has purchased Forrestfield Forum & Marketplace from its Singaporean owners, in a deal understood to be worth around $40 million.

The 13,450 square metre centre comprises 52 shops and two supermarkets, with the sale negotiated off-market by commercial agency JLL on behalf of Singapore’s First United Developments, which bought into the asset in 1997.

It is ranked just inside the top 50 retail malls in Western Australia on the BNiQ Shopping Centres List, at 49^th.

Hawaiian chief executive Russell Gibbs said the company was excited to announce the acquisition.

“The centre has incredible potential and we look forward to applying the Hawaiian retail management model to it,” he said.

“This is a solid investment for the company; the position and size of the centre mean that Forrestfield was a natural choice for us in expanding our retail portfolio.

Mr Gibbs said the company would immediately launch a review of the centre and evaluate redevelopment options to ensure it would reflect Hawaiian’s third place principles, which involve the creation of spaces to not only shop, but also meet, relax and recreate.

“Forrestfield, along with our other suburban centres, will undergo varying levels of work over the next 12 months to make them shopping centres that are not just the best in their class, they are also true community hubs,” he said.

Other properties in Hawaiian’s portfolio include the Claremont Quarter, Carillon City, The Mezz in Mt Hawthorn, Melville Plaza and the recently redeveloped Bassendean Shopping Centre.