Elanor pays Vicinity wholesale fund $60m for Queanbeyan shopping centre

Riverside Plaza (centre) is about 16 kilometres east of Canberra’s CBD.

Elanor Investors Group today confirmed it acquired Queanbeyan’s Riverside Plaza for $60 million – describing the price as below replacement cost.

The listed fund manager intends to develop surplus land and repurpose a one year old vacant Target tenancy for medical and health use.

This would leave Coles the only anchor within the double storey, 21,477 square metre sub-regional complex opposite Queanbeyan River.

Mini majors include Priceline and The Reject Shop.

There are more than 50 specialty stores, too.

Riverside Plaza, gazetted in New South Wales, is 16 kilometres east of Canberra’s CBD.

Vicinity Centres managed Vicinity Enhanced Retail Fund – a wholesale entity – was the vendor.

Under a now delisted incarnation, CFS Retail Property Trust Group, it paid AMP Capital Investments $62.5m in 2014.

VERF has been divesting shopping centres in recent years including in NSW, at Sydney’s west Lidcombe and Bathurst.

In Victoria it sold Keilor Central, about 16km north west of Melbourne, and Gateway Plaza Leopold in Geelong .

Following the Riverside Plaza sale, it holds just one asset – Mildura Central.

On track to $2b FUM: Elanor

Elanor today said it is on track to control assets worth $2b “following a series of new investments in the commercial office and healthcare real estate sectors over the six months to June 2020” (story continues below).

Elanor Investors Group’s chief executive officer, Glenn Willis.

It will soon launch a new managed fund, Riverside Plaza Syndicate.

“Elanor proved its disciplined ‘risk first investment strategy’ in its recent FY20 annual rents (where valuations across the group managed portfolio increased 0.2 per cent from pre-COVID levels),” a statement said.

“This strategy involves identifying and acquiring assets that provide strong income returns and significant value-add potential.

“It has resulted in Elanor investing in sectors that have performed strongly over the COVID-19 period.

“Elanor’s sectors of focus include retail real estate assets providing everyday goods and services, regional accommodation hotels, government-leased and non-CBD commercial offices and healthcare real estate”.

In March the manager established the $123m Elanor Healthcare Real Estate Fund, which seeks multi-tenanted medical offices, day surgeries and out-of-public hospital investments.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenging operating conditions, we are pleased with the resilient performance of the Group’s assets,” the trust’s chief executive officer, Glenn Willis, said.

“As we approach $2b [in funds under management], our disciplined risk-first approach to real estate investment is well recognised by our capital partners and as such, we continue to experience strong demand for our funds,” the executive added.

“We have achieved an average Internal Rate of Return of 20pc per annum on realised investments since the listing of Elanor in 2014.

“We have a strong pipeline of funds management opportunities across all of our investment sectors,” Mr Willis said.

“Furthermore, we continue to pursue opportunities in new real estate sectors and explore strategic options to realise our growth objectives”.

Riverside Plaza is opposite Queanbeyan River.

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Marc Pallisco

A former property analyst and print journalist, Marc is the publisher of realestatesource.com.au.