Townsville’s Willows Shopping Centre sells for $212 million

Fawkner Property has acquired Townsville’s Willows shopping centre in Queensland from Dexus Wholesale Property Fund for $212 million.

Willows has gross lettable area of 44,507sqm and its major tenants include Big W, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Rebel, TK Maxx, JB-Hi-Fi, and Cotton On, along with 107 specialty shops.

The shopping centre generates over $360 million in moving annual turnover.

“As interest rates potentially move into a stabilisation phase, private capital, which has dominated this investor space over the past two years, is moving quickly to secure high quality, large retail assets at compelling returns as this window of opportunity begins to close,” said Simon Rooney, CBRE head of retail capital markets – Pacific.

“We have recently seen the re-entry of offshore and now domestic institutional investors into the sub-regional and regional shopping centre sector given the compelling returns on offer. This should translate into increased retail sales volumes as we close out 2024 and continue into 2025.”

Rooney negotiated the transaction on behalf of Fawkner Property, while Stonebridge and JLL acted for Dexus.

The transaction follows Fawkner Property’s acquisition of retail assets in Gladstone, Mackay and Cairns.

“We are dealing with a notable increase in capital demand for retail, with the majority of investors who are returning to the sector engaging in the sub-regional asset class given the available returns and the land-rich nature of these centres,” said Nick Willis, JLL senior director.

“The sale comes as transaction volumes for sub-regional centres track at almost $1.2 billion YTD in 2024, trailing some 55 per cent below the three-year average annual volume for the sub-sector,” added Sam Hatcher, JLL head of retail investments – Australia.

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