GPT has taken Wollongong Central off the market, after the CBD shopping centre failed to sell after a three-month expressions of interest process.
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The property development group announced to shareholders that it had “formally withdrawn the asset from the market” on Wednesday morning.
The company’s regional general manager Antony Keenan, who looks after Wollongong Central, said the sale was not going ahead as GPT had been unable to find a buyer for the whole centre.
“The campaign was for a 100 per cent ownership of the centre, and simply we weren’t able to secure a purchaser for 100 per cent interest, so the wholesale shopping centre fund that owns the asset has made the decision to withdraw it from sale and continue to manage the asset,” Mr Keenan said.
GPT announced its intention to sell the centre in February, hoping to attract offers of around $500 million.
The surprise sale, which would have included all property management and the rights to manage the centre, was said to be due to a change in strategy for the property developer, which hoped to focus on larger “super-regional” centres like Melbourne’s Highpoint.
Mr Keenan said the sale had received some interest, but – due to commercial confidentiality agreements – he was unable to detail who or how much was bid.
“The fund has made the decision that we’re actually really happy with the trading performance of the centre, particularly since the development last year,” he said.
“We’re happy to manage it moving forward, and it’s good for us now because we can continue to progress our strategies for the centre.”
Mr Keenan said shoppers and retailers – the latter of whom have been informed of the sale withdrawal on Wednesday – would notice no difference in the way the centre was run going forward.
“We were still acting business as usual throughout the sale,” he said.
The sale announcement followed the completion of what GPT calls a “repositioning of the asset”, in which it spent $68 million to install a new David Jones department store and other shops like TK Maxx, H&M and Mecca Maxima.
Recently, the number of higher-end franchises moving into the centre has continued, with Italian restaurant chain Criniti’s and mini-golf cocktail bar Holey Moley due to open soon.
“There are all these great stores coming in, and for us there’s no intention in the short term to sell it and we want to continue to trade the centre,” Mr Keenan said.
“We’ll always look for tenants that fit our retail mix – so things like Criniti’s which is such a strong brand, and the CBD is crying out for more of that entertainment with the night time economy growing, so it’s great that we can introduce Holey Moley.”
“The centre is performing well, so we’re happy to continue to focus on it. The sale was nothing to do with performance, it was simply the strategy at the time.”
Along with the sale of it’s existing property, GPT would have passed on previous development approvals which would have allowed it to build high-rise apartments on top of the West Keira complex.
Mr Keenan said he couldn’t comment on whether GPT would now enact these approvals, but noted the compnay did “have opportunity for further growth” which could happen with the right timing.