WA paving the way for LFR through COVID-19

The Large Format Retail Market in Western Australia is entering an exciting period of new development. Vend Property recently announced $125 million worth of projects with major centres in Butler, Belmont and Ellenbrook now at various stages of construction and pre-leasing.

 

Butler Central Shopping Park 

Long time LFRA member AXIOM Properties Limited has returned to Perth with a new development after a 15 year hiatus. AXIOM is behind ‘Butler Central Shopping Park’, an 18,000 sqm Large Format Retail centre located at 150 Camborne Parkway in Perth’s outer northern suburb of Butler.

The $55 million dollar project has an estimated completion date of May 2022. The leasing campaign led by Vend Property’s Jeff Klopper and Paul Davison is well underway with tenancies ranging in size from 276 to 2,500 sqm. The varying sizes allow the Centre to cater for a diverse range of local and national retailers.

Mr Davison commented “the site benefits from the adjacent Woolworths anchored shopping centre and Dan Murphy’s store, bringing 7 days a week footfall to the front doors of this LFR centre.”

“We have major anchor retailers already committed to the Centre,” Mr Klopper added.

“This is on the back of leading retail brands including Spotlight, Anaconda, Chemist Warehouse and Rebel already positioning themselves in the newly formed Butler precinct.

“Butler is an up and coming activity hub for many national retailers.

“It boasts of having one of Australia’s fastest growing populations, which has been growing at a staggering 6% p.a. over the past few years, and is expected to be at circa 80,000 people by 2020,” concluded Mr Klopper.

Mr Klopper also noted he was just as busy now as he had been in the last Large Format Retail boom of 2007 – 2008, a strong indicator for the Large Format Retail industry in Western Australia.

 

Primewest Ellenbrook

In June 2020, Primewest commenced construction of a 7,216 sqm Large Format centre known as ‘Primewest Ellenbrook’ in Perth’s north-eastern suburb.

Primewest has three centres under development in Ellenbrook including a Neighbourhood Shopping Centre, with Stage 1 due to be completed in April 2021 and an estimated end value of $28.5 million dollars. The Centre is currently advertised for lease by Vend Property Managing Director Jeff Klopper and has enjoyed over 60 per cent pre-commitment including BP, Petbarn and Autobarn as anchor tenants.

 

 

Belmont Central, Belmont

With many commercial and retail landlords struggling to retain tenants in the current economic environment, local developer Major Holdings has bucked this trend and secured a strong tenant profile for their new project at 225 Great Eastern Highway known as ‘Belmont Central’.

Belmont Central will be anchored by household brands The Good Guys, Officeworks, Petbarn, Adairs and Beacon Lighting. The estimated completion value of the site is $42 million by October 2020 following the first stage of the project.

Jeff Klopper is leasing the development and confirmed that the project is on track with the original timeline. Construction of Belmont Central continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic due to it being an essential service.

“The centre is already over 70 per cent pre-committed and there has been an increase in inquiry over the past six weeks.

Mr Klopper speculates that this recent increase in inquiry may be a result of confidence boosted by the financial support provided by the Federal and State Governments.

“Due to restrictions on the east coast, Western Australia seems to be the shining light for retailers.”