Louis Vuitton and its luxe peers head to Sydney’s North Shore
Shopping centre owner Vicinity Centres is taking its talent for luxury retail to Sydney’s Lower North Shore, where it will open a range of top-shelf brands from the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy stable at Chatswood Chase.
Vicinity already has a close relationship with LVMH, with a slate of its big-name outlets at the Chadstone mall in Melbourne – which is jointly owned with its biggest investor billionaire John Gandel – and at QueensPlaza in Brisbane.
Many of those names will open their doors as well at Chatswood where Vicinity is pursing $625 million redevelopment, due to be completed midway through next year.
Brands include Louis Vuitton itself, as well as other LVMH “maisons” such as Dior, Bvlgari, Celine and Loewe.
“We are delighted to extend our strategic partnership with LVMH, welcoming 12 flagship LVMH brands to Chatswood Chase,” Vicinity chief executive Peter Huddle said. “Our enduring partnership with LVMH is built on a deep understanding of luxury retail, mutual trust, and a shared commitment to creating long-term value.”
Well-heeled shoppers will have even more luxury to choose from at Chatswood Chase, with other big names also on the tenant list: Hermes, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Burberry and Armani.
Along with the luxury focus, Vicinity has further ambitions for Chatswood Chase and another Sydney mall, Bankstown Central, which can both potentially accommodate residential development.
“Sites at both centres proposed for high-density residential have been endorsed for inclusion in the Housing Development Authority’s accelerated assessment pathway, providing an expedited planning process,” Huddle said.
“Both Bankstown Central and Chatswood Chase represent two of Vicinity’s most strategically located and exciting assets with potential to deliver new housing in high-demand urban precincts.”
That news accompanied Huddle’s delivery of Vicinity’s 2024-25 financial result including a statutory net profit of $1 billion boosted by portfolio gains, close to double the previous year.
Its funds from operations, an industry earnings standard which strips out the impact of portfolio valuation changes, was up 1.4 per cent to $673.8 million.
Underscoring the importance of high-end retail for Vicinity’s business, one of its strongest performing categories among its specialty tenants was jewellery, where sales jumped 8.2 per cent in the second half, with luxury a key contributor, it said.
Adjusting for one-off items and higher loss of rent from developments, Vicinity’s FFO was up 3.6 per cent.
At 14.8¢ per security, Vicinity delivered earnings at the top end of its previous guidance range. Distributions totalled to 12¢, up from 11.75¢ the previous year.
In the coming year, Vicinity expects to deliver FFO and adjusted FFO per security within the ranges of 15¢ to 15.2¢ and 12.8¢ to 13¢.
