IN BRIEF API buys into West Leederville

SUBIACO-BASED property syndicator Australasian Property Investments (API) Pty Ltd has bought a West Leederville shopping centre for $27.1 million. The off-market transaction represented a yield on effective net rents of 8 per cent. The centre, located at 115 Cambridge Street, was completed in November and is fully leased to a Coles supermarket (2,500 square metres), BWS liquor store, pharmacy, newsagency and cafe. It also contains two levels of commercial office space, totalling 2,000sqm, which is anchored by property developer Australand. API managing director Peter Hughes said the centre offered some diversification of risk, containing both retail and office space, along with depreciation benefits from the new building. Retail investments would continue to offer security of income and capital growth in the current market, he said. API raised $18 million from its private wholesale client base for the acquisition. The group has also invested in a town centre development in the City of Swan, being undertaken by Multiplex, which includes a shopping centre and some office space. Its total property portfolio is worth about $300 million, including sites in Subiaco, Perth CBD, Joondalup, Myaree, and West Perth