KM doubles money on cold storage facility
KordaMentha has sold a Laverton North cold storage investment for more than twice what it paid in 2019.
Mapletree is the buyer; the $42.8 million price reflects a 4.3 per cent net yield.
The asset will swap between trusts – the KM Laverton North Property Fund to Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT).
Dawkins Occhiuto’s Chris Jones and Andrew Dawkins with JLL’s Adrian Rowse and Tony Iuliano were the agents.
KordaMentha acquired the property from the occupier for $21m.
183pc increase since 2018
The 3.3 hectare asset covers two addresses – 5-17 Leslie Road ad 6 Pipe Rd.
It contains five blocks of cold and freezer storage, ambient warehouses and offices – all up with 14,747 square metres of lettable area – accessed from eight crossovers.
The long-time occupier, Austco Polar, pays net annual rent of $1,921,748; its rent will rise 3.5pc until lease expiry in 2034.
Its parent, ASX listed Wingara AG, paid $15.1m for the property shortly after it acquired the cold storage business in 2018.
Laverton North is about 18 kilometres west of the CBD.
Five Melbourne logistics assets for MLT
Following settlement, MLT will hold five Melbourne logistics investments.
It will own 13 nationally – a portfolio worth $870m with 352,400 sqm of lettable area (story continues below).
Incorporating China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam, Mapletree controls 163 logistics assets worth a total of $10.7 billion.
“The e-commerce food and grocery sectors recorded strong growth in 2020,” the buyer said in a statement.
“This is turn has supported robust demand for cold storage facilities,” it added.
“Despite the sector’s recent growth, Australia has a relatively low supply of cold storage facilities as compared to other developed markets,” according to MLT.
“Consequently, there are no vacant cold storage warehouses of greater than 5000 sqm across the country”.
Austco conducts cold storage, packaging and exporting from the Laverton North site.
The property was last independently valued in June, 2021, at $43m.
Elsewhere in the west
Last Thursday we reported Costway would set up its first Australian distribution centre about three kilometres from the Austco site.
The owner of that asset, Lendlease, also recently acquired two west Melbourne warehouse investments – in Altona and Altona North – from Mirvac.
Another institutional investor, Goodman, sealed two pre-commitments at its West Industry Park, in Truganina, in June.
That landlord last week acquired a 125ha industrial development site on Riding Boundary Road, also in that suburb.
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