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A private investor has snapped up the Brisbane CBD's home of global retailers H&M and Uniqlo for $145 million in the latest move by property fund manager ISPT to scale back its holdings of inner-city retail assets.
The Melbourne-based ISPT has held the three-level mixed-use building in its flagship ISPT Core Fund since acquiring the property in 2011.
The high-profile asset, which was built in the 1980s and has 3,365sqm of net lettable area, underwent a major redevelopment in 2016 after which ISPT secured fashion giants H&M and Uniqlo to Queen Street Mall.
“The sale is consistent with the ISPT Core Fund’s portfolio curation strategy which will see the proceeds reinvested into the fund’s existing development pipeline,” says ISPT Core Fund manager Brett Williams.
Willliams describes 170 Queen Street as a major Brisbane CBD retail asset and says that ISPT is proud to have 'driven its repositioning over the last decade’.
However, it hasn't been an entirely smooth path for the fund over the past decade. In 2015, ISPT took issue with the Queensland Valuer-General doubling the land valuation of the site from $32 million to about $60 million.
During its appeal in the Land Court, ISPT argued that the valuation was excessive and didn’t reflect the constraints to further development of the site, especially its limited potential for a high-rise project. After winning its appeal in 2019, the valuation of the site was cut to $35.1 million.
The 170 Queen Street property has been acquired by a local private investor, whose identity had not been disclosed, after an introduction to ISPT by JLL agents Nick Willis and Sam Hatcher.
The retail asset is in the heart of Brisbane’s high-end fashion precinct with Louis Vuitton earlier this year opening its new 1,370sqm flagship store at 180 Queen Street, immediately next door to the ISPT property, in the sandstone building that formerly housed the National Australia Bank.
Luxury brands Tiffany & Co, Saint Laurent and Paspaley have also been added to the mix after they established new stores at QueensPlaza this year.
Following the Queen Street sale, ISPT will retain several Brisbane CBD assets, including 150 Elizabeth Street, the Wintergarden building, Hilton Hotel and Uptown retail centre (formerly the Myer Centre), which is jointly owned with Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX).
The Brisbane sale comes on the heels of ISPT announcing last week plans to sell four retail centres, namely Melbourne's GPO, The Strand Melbourne, Halls Head Central in WA and Eastgate Bondi Junction. The fund is also selling the 270 Pitt Street office building in Sydney as it turns its focus to industrial and medical assets.
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