LOVE local is one of its mantras and Sydney-based Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group has shown its clear affection for the Hunter for the second time in a week by snapping up Marketown for $150 million.
SCA Property Group's move to acquire the Newcastle West shopping centre spread over two sites from AMP Capital comes a day after it confirmed it has bought MarketPlace Raymond Terrace for about $87.5 million.
The deals bring the value of SCA Property Group's assets in the Hunter to $314.8 million, which also includes its ownership of Cardiff shopping centre (valued at $26.6 million in December), Belmont Central ($31.1 million) and Morrisset shpping centre ($19.1 million).
SCA Property Group's chief operating officer Michelle Tierney said the decision to acquire Marketown - which AMP Capital bought in mid-2017 on behalf of superannuation fund Sunsuper for $163 million - fit with its strategy, which focused on convenience-based shopping centres.
"Our motto is love local, shop local, act local. We really like the Newcastle and Upper Hunter region and we have a lot of exposure there with other assets there," she said. "Our strategy is that we are focused on local shopping centres with convenience, fresh food and services to suit the local market."
Marketown "East" centre is anchored by Woolworths, Big W and Dan Murphy's and has 28 specialty stores, while the "West" centre has Coles and Officeworks and another 28 stores.
Ms Tierney said the shopping centre was a "pretty well managed asset" that was performing well and SCA Property Group had no major plans to make changes: "There are no wholesale changes planned but we'll get in and understand and look at what might be missing in the local market and how we might be able to complement that over time."
The Marketown settlement is slated for June 30.
SCA Property Group's origins were as a stapled trust structure created by Woolworths as a landlord for a number of its owned shopping centres in late 2012.
SCA went to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) raising $472m a short time later. It is now an independent entity with its own board and management team.
Ms Tierney said SCA now had a "significant presence" in the Hunter and "if there were other assets that appear, the region is definitely appealing to us".
Ms Tierney said that the effect of the pandemic and a focus on the regions meant that there was "a lot of potential" for the entire region and Newcastle.
"There are a lot of people moving into regional areas such as the Hunter and Newcastle, people who have reassessed their lives and lifestyles and have realised the appeal of some of these regional locations and we think that can only continue to be a positive for the region," she said.
