Queensland group buys Port Hedland shops

Brisbane-based Sentinel Property Group has added Port Hedland Boulevard to its portfolio, buying the Woolworths-anchored shopping centre for $18 million.

The deal was brokered by ACTON Commercial’s Jonathan Kilborn, Lee Bradshaw and Conray Passaris, on behalf of a Perth-based private syndicate.

Port Hedland Boulevard is the state’s 98^th-largest shopping centre, according to the BNiQ Search Engine, with 6,246 square metres of gross lettable area.

Around 70 per cent of the centre’s gross passing income is generated by national tenants, including the Woolworths supermarket, a Harvey Norman outlet, a Chicken Treat fast food establishment and 15 other specialty retailers.

Woolworths’ 20-year lease at the centre expires in 2028, however the supermarket giant retains two five-year options.

The deal is Sentinel’s second Western Australian acquisition, following its $27.3 million purchase of Geraldton Homemaker Centre in September last year.

Sentinel will place the centre in its Countrywide Retail Trust, a fully subscribed fund that owns seven other shopping centres, in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

The group’s total portfolio comprises 41 assets, worth more than $1 billion.