Myer-anchored Central Square Ballarat listed after 30 years
Central Square Ballarat, a Myer and Target-anchored shopping centre in the regional Victorian city’s CBD, has been put up for sale for the first time in three decades.
The 23,373-square-metre sub-regional centre sits on a 12,428-square-metre site, with Myer and Target taking up 70 per cent of its lettable area.
The centre was developed in 1988 around a Sturt Street building dating back to about 1870, and Myer has traded there since 1951.
Stonebridge Property Group’s Justin Dowers, who is handling the sale alongside colleague Kevin Tong, says shopping centres of this scale are rarely offered in regional centres, and points to the department store’s lease as a source of income growth.
“With Myer on an exceptionally low rent and multiple opportunities to grow income through active leasing, remixing and repositioning, the centre offers considerable upside,” Dowers says.
The property is 90.4 per cent occupied and generates $1.81 million of passing net income a year, rising to $2.93 million if fully leased.
Alongside Myer and Target, the centre houses three mini-majors, 36 specialty stores, three kiosks and three offices, with non-major rents rising at a weighted average of 3.37 per cent a year.
The centre’s average gross specialty rent is $661 a square metre, which is about 42 per cent below benchmark, Stonebridge says.
Tong notes that Ballarat’s role as the retail and service hub for the Central Highlands broadened the shopping centre’s appeal.
“It’s CBD location places it among the city’s employment, healthcare, education and civic precincts, while Myer and Target anchors give it a strong destination offer,” he says.
Ballarat’s population is forecast to grow from 121,050 in 2024 to 164,365 by 2046, while the $650.4 million Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment and the completed Bridge Mall upgrade are drawing further investment into the city centre, Stonebridge says.
The expressions-of-interest campaign closes on November 5.
