Irongate seeds fund with Sydney business park
Irongate has picked up a land rich business park west of Sydney to seed a fund backed by Johannesburg listed Burstone, formerly known as Investec Property Fund.
The 3.4 hectare L-shaped site comprising 338-350 Woodpark Road and 1 Dupas Street set the manager back $57.25 million reflecting a 3.73 per cent net passing yield.
A reposition is planned as it a reletting strategy at higher rates (buildings presently earn about $120 per square metre, per annum, considered well below market).
As such, the short weighted average lease expiry – 1.7 years – and a vacancy, are considered positives.
The acquisition – which the buyer describes as below land and replacement cost – comes 18 months since Charter Hall with Dutch pension fund PGGM snapped up the Irongate Group funds management business for over $1.2 billion.
Colliers’ Trent Gallagher, Gavin Bishop, Sean Thomson and Peter Dale represented the vendor, EK Nominees, controlled by the local Katz family.
Revamp planned
Irongate will hold the Smithfield asset, with 17,746 sqm, in the Industrial Prime Property Fund – its first trust since the Charter Hall buyout – which will target large, low-risk, under-utilised infill sites where positive rental reversion is possible (story continues below).
Hong Kong based Phoenix Property Investors is a co-investor, for its Pan Asia Core Plus Investment Fund.
“For over 15 years, we’ve navigated various cycles in the market [and] we believe the positive momentum in the industrial sector is sustainable, particularly in key infill areas” Irongate chief executive officer, Graeme Katz, not related to the vendor, said.
“The Smithfield acquisition is the first of many we intend to make in the short term,” he added.
“We have our sights set on a number of under-rented assets in key logistics hubs across the country,” according to the executive.
The deal comes a week since we reported Bob Ell sold a 4.68ha North Rocks business park to Centuria for $70.6m – a 24pc rise on the ($57m) price he paid in mid-2021.
That asset is also for an industrial mandate – the Starwood Capital Last Mile Logistics Partnership – which now holds four local warehouses worth c$150m, a value expected to more than treble.
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