PERTH-BASED listed investment manager WRF Securities has launched a syndicate to buy 20 hectares of land at Southern River, 19 kilometres from Perth. The WRF Southern River Syndicate has already raised two-thirds of the $10 million capital required and plans to subdivide the land into 260 residential lots and one commercial lot to be marketed under the WRF Property Division Banner. Investors will be offered a three- to four-year term with an annual internal rate of return of about 19 per cent. WRF Property division managing director Owen Lennie said Perth was chosen as the location of the group’s next syndicate because the demand for residential property continued to outweigh supply. Land values in the Southern River region have risen by 16.4 per cent for the 12 months to September 2005. WRF has offices in Melbourne and Auckland and has a total investor network of more than 3,000. The company has established 10 unlisted property syndicates to date, including a successful Henley Brook Syndicate in late 2005, and holds more than $270 million in assets. Day-to-day management of the Southern River development will be undertaken by SPM Project Marketing director Warren Spencer, who has extensive industry experience, including 10 years with developer Peet & Co. Over the approximate three-year lifespan of the syndicate, investors will receive their share of profits and return of capital, upon the sales of the subdivided lots over five stages.
