Popular St Ives mall up for grabs at $500m or more

Up for grabs is not only the mall itself, which has 250 metres of frontage to Mona Vale Road, but 11 adjoining properties, acquired progressively by E.K Nominees over several years.

Along Mona Vale Road and in Denley Lane, the extra properties are leased by a mixture of restaurants, professional and community services. In all, the mall and its neighbours amount to an amalgamated development site totalling more than 25, 000 square metres.

Centre manager Tony Marcocci said St Ives Shopping Village had strong links to the local community, with some tenants in the mall for 60 years already.

“We believe there is significant potential for St Ives Shopping Village to play an even greater role within the local community,” he said.

“A considered redevelopment could introduce new lifestyle and leisure facilities, activate the area’s evening economy by adding entertainment and dining spaces, as well as attract new residents, retailers, and businesses.”

The centre is anchored by Woolworths, Coles, and Harris Farm Markets, and has more than 100 lifestyle, fashion, food and convenience retailers along with allied health, wellbeing and other services. Colliers’ Lachlan MacGillivray is brokering the asset.

“St Ives Shopping Village has consistently been ranked number one in Australia and is the dominant town centre in the upper north shore region, with incredibly resilient holding income and a non-discretionary offering which is currently unmatched in the catchment area,” he said.

The north shore opportunity is part of a fresh wave of retail real estate offerings coming into the market, as fund managers and investors focus more closely on assets that can deliver inflation-beating returns during a period of rising interest rates and higher living costs.

In south-east Queensland, a $500 million portfolio of five neighbourhood malls, controlled by Melbourne investment house CVS Lane and Don O’Rorke’s Consolidated Properties Group, is on the market. So is a $400 million portfolio of sub-regional malls managed by Lendlease’s investment platform.

Elsewhere in Sydney, the privately owned Mandarin Centre, in the Chatswood CBD, has also been put up for sale, with expectations of $200 million or more.

The Chatswood mall has considerable development potential, after obtaining approval for a 27-storey mixed-use development with close to 40,000 square metres of space.