Lease Equity has signalled strong intentions to shake-up Perth commercial office sales, widening its focus outside of retail property by establishing a capital markets division headed up by industry stalwart Brett Wilkins.
Lease Equity has signalled strong intentions to shake-up Perth commercial office sales, widening its focus outside of retail property by establishing a capital markets division headed up by industry stalwart Brett Wilkins.
The commercial agency has long been a leader in Perth’s retail scene, having brought some of the bigger names in shopping to the city since it was established in 2002.
Mr Wilkins, who has had a long career in Perth’s office market, initially with Hawaiian then later with Colliers International and most recently EY, said he had been keen to work professionally with Lease Equity managing director Jim Tsagalis for more than 16 years.
Mr Wilkins said the capital markets division of Lease Equity was set up to provide existing clients with a new suite of services.
He said while the decision to leave EY was difficult, he was looking forward to the challenge of returning to sales.
“I just like sales, I like doing deals,” Mr Wilkins told Business News.
“EY is a good organisation, I really liked it. It’s a massive organisation, it was great, but it was time to move on after five years.
“I wanted independence, so a small boutique agency is what I was looking for.”
Mr Wilkins said he wasn’t daunted by widespread pessimism hanging over Perth’s commercial property sector, with interest in Western Australian assets on the rise at all levels, from mum and dad investors to big offshore investment groups.
“There are deals out there, deals to be done,” he said.
“I’m not saying it’s easy, but there are deals to be done.
“Banks are difficult in financing now and very selective, and that’s making acquisitions harder, but there is a lot of money out there, there is a lot of money looking for a home.
“It’s selective, it’s cautious etcetera, but there is just a massive amount.”
Mr Wilkins said the interest in Perth from Asian groups with big balance sheets, like Fragrance Group, Far East Consortium and Victor Goh’s AAIG, among others, was cause for cautious optimism.
“Everybody overemphasises the boom and overemphasises the bust,” he said.
“So you get the prophets of doom that are saying ‘it’s all screwed for the next couple of years’ … but it’s not; it’s going to be hard for a while, but (the interest) is a good indication of long-term faith in the economy in the state.
“Even on the residential side, which is obviously soft and difficult, I’d rate Perth as one of the safest residential places to invest because we’ve gone through our bad phase.
“Prices have dropped, you haven’t got that much being built. I’d be scared of investing in Sydney or Melbourne.
“I know from talking to some of the Chinese groups that there are some groups deliberately targeting Perth because they can see opportunities available that they can actually make work.
“And a couple of those groups have got big enough balance sheets that they won’t have to get 70 per cent of the stock sold before they can commence construction.”
