This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY fund manager ISPT, which is readying a separate national portfolio of retail assets for sale, has sold the Brisbane home of fast fashion giants H&M and Uniqlo for $145 million.
The sale of 170 Queen Street, to an investor, is only the second transaction along Queen Street Mall since 2019.
Acquired by ISPT Core Fund in 2011 for $62.5 million, the asset underwent a major redevelopment in 2016 with the introduction of the H&M and Uniqlo flagships.
“We are pleased to announce the sale of 170 Queen Street, a major Brisbane CBD retail asset, and are proud of having driven its repositioning over the last decade,” Brett Williams, ISPT Core Fund manager said:
“The sale is consistent with the ISPT Core Fund’s portfolio curation strategy which will see the proceeds reinvested into the Fund’s existing development pipeline.”
ISPT’s Core Fund has just put five assets to market with expectations of as much as $600 million, as it shifts away from the office and retail sectors towards industrial, health and life sciences.
Among the properties is Melbourne’s GPO building, also home to an H&M flagship store. The Strand Melbourne, Halls Head Central WA, Eastgate Bondi Junction, and the vacant office building at 270 Pitt Street are also on the block.
ISPT continues to hold strategic assets across Queensland, including on Queen Street Mall with 150 Elizabeth Street, Wintergarden, 155 Queen Street, Hilton Hotel and Uptown, jointly owned with Vicinity Centres.
The gentrification of Queen Street Mall continues to accelerate with Louis Vuitton recently opening its new 1,370 sqm flagship directly adjoining 170 Queen Street, ISPT noted.
The purchaser was introduced by JLL’s Nick Willis and Sam Hatcher.
Despite some recent high-profile deals, shopping centre transactions have meandered along in 2023, according to The Data App, with shrinking demand for assets and the gap between buyers and seller expectations the likely reasons, despite an influx of assets being put to the market.
In the three months to September – prior to ISPT putting its portfolio up for sale – there was 400,000 sqm of shopping centres placed to the market, with 160,000 sqm transacting – suggesting nearly 250,000 sqm of overhang.
In a recent APJ Talking Property podcast, MSCI Pacific head of real estate research Benjamin Martin-Henry discussed transaction volumes hitting the lowest level since 2011 with sales of industrial, office and retail assets all slumping in the first half.
