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The sale of a large homemaker centre has shown the strength of niche retail investment.
Homeworld Helensvale, a home goods and lifestyle retail shopping centre located in the northern suburbs of the Gold Coast, sold for $265 million following an invitation-only international expression of interest campaign conducted by Philip Gartland of Stonebridge and Lachlan MacGillivray and Stewart Gilchrist of Colliers.
The sale represents the largest Queensland large format retail transaction on record and the second largest in Australia.
Situated approximately 18 kilometres north of Surfers Paradise and 60 kilometres south of Brisbane’s central business district, the 20.3-hectare site comprises over 36,000 square metres of lettable area just off the Pacific Highway.
Retail investments may have taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as Mr MacGillivray noted, this sale showed the strength of certain niche markets that had actually benefited from people spending more time at home.
“As shoppers increasingly show preference towards experiential retail post lockdowns, Homeworld Helensvale is in a prime position to take advantage of strong household spending and demand from consumers,” Mr MacGillivray said.
“Continued work from home and a reduced supply in the residential market has also boosted key large format retail categories, with many outperforming broader retail sales growth.”
In addition to the centre, which houses health and medical tenants alongside the retail offerings, the site also includes 7.34 hectares of developable vacant land adjacent to the centre. A portion of that land already has preliminary approval for showroom, retail, medical and indoor recreation, and office expansion. Approval for high-density residential, hotel and retirement living has also been granted.
Mr Gartland added that large format retail centres such as this had also continued to show promise in a fluctuating commercial market, given consumers’ increasing preference for one-stop shopping.
“Over the past few years, changing consumer behaviours and planning flexibility has allowed the tenancy mix within large format retail centres to evolve to suit both retailers and customers alike from both a convenience and flexible trading hour perspective. Homeworld Helensvale is a very strong example of this evolution,” he said.
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