Metals giant outlays $88m in Pinkenba
Sentinel Property Group has banked $88 million – a significant capital gain on the $48.5m it outlaid in October, 2017 – for a major waterfront Pinkenba investment.
The buyer of the 14 hectare site at 69 Tingira Street is metals and municipals recycling giant Sims, which plans to occupy.
The property is presently a liquid and bulk storage facility with a deep water berth tenanted as a distribution centre to Incitec Pivot.
It was that ASX-listed group – in the news this week for announcing it would demerge its explosives and fertiliser businesses – which sold the asset to Sentinel with a leaseback.
The property has been held by the Sentinel Industrial Trust which also owns investments in Mackay and Townsville and, outside of Queensland, at the NSW Central Coast’s Tuggerah.
Location, scale and export infrastructure
Sentinel managing director Warren Ebert said he was initially told he paid too much for 69 Tingira St.
“But I thought, 14ha on the water with its own 34,500 tonne wharf was a rare find, and this has proved to be the case,” he added.
“While we were not a motivated seller, the industrial market was at the stage where the offers we were getting presented with, were few far too good to ignore,” according to the executive.
“With interest rates starting to move up, we have seen some buyers becoming cautious and vendors expectations have already started to adjust,” he said.
“This is a great time to be sitting on plenty of cash” (story continues below).
Also this month, we reported Sentinel made its maiden South Australian investment – the five level office component of a 19 storey mixed use complex at 131-139, in the Adelaide CBD – outlaying $20.9m.
The Brisbane based group has added recently added Canberra and Darwin commercial assets to its portfolio too.
Area allows air, land and sea logistics capabilities: agent
Savills agent Toby Hundertmark brokered the Sims sale.
The asset contains a 26,676 square metre warehouse, four storage sheds with nearly 12 megalitre product capacity, and offices.
It also includes a 1.5ha seabed lease, facilitating a wharf able to handle Handymax vessels allowing direct exporting.
Mr Hundertmark said the site scale and its access to only a handful of Brisbane’s deep-water berths, appealed to Sims.
The location, in the city’s popular Trade Coast precinct, which captures the Port of Brisbane and Brisbane Airport, was another factor driving the purchase, he added, delivering air, land and sea logistics capabilities.
“Our client…seized an excellent opportunity to sell the property to an owner occupier with strong sustainability credentials and a long term vision, which will put the property to its highest and best use”.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.