Aussies shopping for our malls

The $6 billion Australian mall giant Centro Properties Group has its Auckland consultants scouting for more shopping centres in New Zealand, after a $36 million spend up over the past few months.

This year, the Australian Stock Exchange-listed Centro paid $12.5 million for the Meadowlands shopping centre in Auckland, hard on the heels of its $23.4 million purchase of the Barrington mall in Christchurch. It also owns the 7682 sq m Kelston mall in Auckland and the 17,956 sq m Porirua Mega Centre in Wellington.

Westfield, ING, AMP, Multiplex, Macquarie Countrywide and the Commonwealth Bank-run Kiwi Income Property Trust are other Australian mall titans expanding their centres here.

Meadowlands' vendors were the Hind Shopping Centre, owned by active Auckland investors the Jhunjhunwalas - who sold Central Park to the Macquarie Goodman Property Trust for more than $52 million two years ago.

Graham Terry, Centro's chief operating officer, said yesterday his group wanted more property, "whether it's established malls, proposed malls - anything that's retail in New Zealand. Yields, quality of shops and the culture of the country are attractive to us."

Jon Chomley, chief operating officer of property consultancy DTZ NZ, who negotiated the Meadowlands deal, said the deals in Auckland and Christchurch had helped the company address its strategic long-term goal of growing its portfolio in this market.

The sale of the 5000 sq m 27-shop Meadowlands mall, with parking for 315 vehicles, settled on January 28, he said. The mall brings in $1.13 million a year in rent and the sale showed a 9 per cent yield.

DTZ sales and leasing agent Stuart Blakely negotiated the Barrington sale on a 9.25 per cent yield. The 12,058 sq m mall has 22 shops and a food court and about $80 million in retail sales each year.

Centro is one of Australia's largest shopping centre managers. It ranks in the top 100 companies on the ASX, manages Australia's sixth largest listed property trust and has more than A$6 billion under management.

Also part of the group is Centro McS, the largest retail property syndicator in Australia. It manages 30 syndicate portfolios valued at over A$2.6 billion and has an extensive portfolio of 81 retail shopping centres across Australia.

Mall majors

* Australian listed entities dominate shopping centre ownership in New Zealand.
* Westfield, ING, AMP, Multiplex, Macquarie Countrywide, Commonwealth Bank and Centro own the most.
* All are either expanding their existing centres, searching for land or scouting to buy completed malls.
* Centro's activities point to it being ready to buy more completed malls.