Edgecliff Centre snapped up for 138.75 million

Edgecliff Centre snapped up for $138.75 millionIn one of the most hotly-contested deals of 2016, the landmark mixed-use complex at the gateway to Sydney’s affluent eastern suburbs has been purchased by Longhurst Group – its first Australian acquisition.The 10,845 sqm mixed-use commercial building, comprising a neighbourhood shopping centre and a six storey office building, had been privately held for more than two decades.The sale, negotiated by JLL and Knight Frank on behalf of the private owner, delivered a 3.72 per cent yield.Longhurst, backed by local investors and headed by former Mirvac executive Paolo Razza, saw the Edgecliff Centre as an opportunity too good to be missed. “This is a landmark building that is nowhere near realising the full potential of its location and views of the Sydney CBD and harbour,” says Razza, who previously led the Mirvac and Urban Growth Consortium responsible for Green Square Town Centre. While he says it would be “premature” to talk about his company’s plans for the centre, Razza says future plans will explore ways to integrate the adjacent East Point shopping centre.”Development sites as good as this are all but non-existent in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver something truly remarkable that benefits the whole community.”JLL’s national director of sales and investments for NSW, James Aroney, says that investors were attracted to the significant value add potential, such as conversion to residential.The campaign attracted interest from a wide range of developers, institutions and high net worth investors, equally split between domestic and offshore.The Edgecliff Centre was a real “one off” redevelopment opportunity, adds Simon Rooney, JLL’s head of Retail Investments Australia.”These large, landmark holdings, with highly secure cash flow, major development potential, sitting on top of a bustling transport hub, within a captive and affluent demographic, are really once in a cycle opportunities and the market response was overwhelming.”