Dexus, RF Corval trade Newcastle offices
EXCLUSIVE
Dexus has sold two A-grade Newcastle offices acquired following its 2021 takeover of APN.
The deal for 26 and 28 Honeysuckle Drive, with RF Corval, is speculated to be worth about $50 million, according to sources.
The properties – both seven storeys, containing a total 9432 square metres – were valued last June at $54.7m.
Dexus also tried to sell in mid-2022; at the time they were appraised at $61.5m which assumed a 6.5 per cent capitalisation rate.
The manager withdrew citing a reduced depth of buyers in the market.
The carrying value of the offices in mid-2021 was $67.5m.
The sale comes 12 months since Dexus sold two more ex-APN properties, neighbouring industrial investments in Melbourne’s Knoxfield, to Arrow Capital Partners, for $22.95m, a $2.1m discount to book value.
26 and 28 Honeysuckle Drive
Dexus, which held the Newcastle properties in its Regional Property Fund, offered them 26pc vacant (story continues below).
The weighted average lease expiry could also be considered short – about three years.
On the plus, the income is diversified; key tenants include the federal government, Nine Entertainment, insurer QBE and law firm Sparke Helmore.
The assets are NABERS rated too – one at 4.5 star, the other, 4 – with swank end of trip facilities and a total 165 car parks.
On 3544 sqm zoned Commercial Core, the address also faces a light rail stop, about 500m from the Newcastle Interchange.
Dropping office value
Dexus is Australia’s biggest office landlord though it has shed significant assets of this type this cycle.
Last year in Sydney, the manager sold two major CBD investments – 1 Margaret St and 44 Market St – for prices between 15-20pc under book value.
Four months ago meanwhile, it divested a Canberra office for $50m, a drop on the ($55m) September, 2023, appraisal.
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