Property News

GE Real Estate on a roll

29 September 2006

GE Real Estate continues its move into the medium size, solid yield commercial property market announcing acquisitions in Sydney yesterday and in Brisbane today, and the buzz says there's more to come.

Both acquisitions comprise 1980s freestanding buildings of similar area, pricing and with good locations for leasing prospects.

On the Brisbane CBD fringe, 121 Wharf Street consists of two adjoining commercial office buildings on a prominent corner site with frontage on Turbot Street and within walking distance of key retail, and financial precincts.

The adjoining buildings, of three and four storeys in height, have a total NLA of 4395 sqm. The vendor was Aria, with the sale price thought to be around $20 million.

In Sydney, GE has acquired two office buildings on a single site in northern Sydney's Willoughby area. Industry sources quote the price at $20.3 million based on a fully leased yield of 8.25%.

Fully leased income for the property is approximately $1.7 million and the current passing income is $1.52 million, which shows an initial yield of 7.5%.

The properties, at 680 Willoughby Road and 150 Mowbray Road, are located approximately 20 metres apart on a combined site area of over 4400 sqm. The combined NLA is just under 4450 sqm.

Both sites have good stable tenants. The Brisbane site is fully leased with naming rights for international mining and engineering consultants Hatch. The Sydney site is around 93% leased to major tenants including Rentokil, Mailcorp and Body Corporate Services.

"These assets are well known to GE and we are pleased to have concluded the purchase. We believe select locations within the suburban office market have significant prospects for future out-performance," said Jason Kougellis, GE Real Estate Director Australia.

GE Real Estate SE Asia Managing Director Roger Keane today said thye company has an aggressive but very defined growth strategy in place.

"We have made several strategic investments in Brisbane and are pleased to conclude this acquisition and further strengthen our portfolio across Australia," he said.

Both sales were brokered by Chesterton International.