Valad Property Group to Buy Australian Unity Portfolio

Industry sources said Valad was is in exclusive due diligence to buy the portfolio, which includes two industrial assets in Melbourne and a homemaker centre in Brisbane.

The two Melbourne facilities include an office warehouse at 25 – 37 Kitchen Road in Dandenong, leased to cork manufacturer Amorim Cork Australia, and a distribution centre at 17 – 21 Strezlecki Avenue in Sunshine, leased to transport group LS Booth Transport Pty Ltd.

Together, these properties returned $943,000 in rent per annum and were expected to contribute to around $12 million of the portfolio’s value.

The biggest property in the portfolio is the Macgregor Mega Centre about 12 kilometres south of Brisbane. The 12,486 square metre retail centre is anchored by electrical retailer Clive Peeters and bed retailer Bedshed, and returns around $1.8 million per annum. The centre was expected to contribute around $30 million to the value of the portfolio.

Valad Property Group chief executive officer real estate investment Martyn McCarthy, and Australian Unity head of property Martin Hession declined to comment when contacted by The Age.

Selling agents CB Richard Ellis managing director Matt Haddon and Shane Robb also declined to comment.

Valad Property Group this week announced it would buy Carter Holt Harvey’s Australian and New Zealand property portfolio for $277 million. The portfolio included industrial warehouses, office buildings and development sites in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

In Victoria, the purchase included an industrial warehouse building at 21 – 35 Ricketts Road in Mount Waverley.

Australian Unity meanwhile is expected to reap around $30 million from the sale of an industrial property portfolio it put on the market last week. The portfolio includes two vacant warehouses in the south-eastern suburb of Hallam, and a fully leased warehouse in the eastern suburb of Blackburn.

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Marc Pallisco

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