Article by Phil Bartsch | 01 June 2018 | Courier Mail, Brisbane | Prime Site | p62
It’s the commercial property equivalent of buying a muscle car or a Mack truck.
Zupp Property Group has revved up the industrial component of its diversified port-folio with the $15.4 million acquisition of a large office/ warehouse in Brisbane’s south.
The sprawling facility sit son a 5.3ha holding at 1979 Ipswich Rd in the city’s traditional transport and logistics heartland of Rocklea.
It is only the third industrial asset to be added to the port-folio of the family-owned development and investment company of former king of the car dealerships John Zupp.
Earlier this year, the group paid $8 million for a fully leased industrial facility on a 2.05ha site at Ormeau on the Brisbane-Gold Coast corridor.
It also owns an office/warehouse facility at 1032 Beaudesert Rd, Coopers Plains, which it as recently repositioned with a multimillion-dollar refurbishment.
“We don’t have a lot of industrial,” Zupp Property Group chief Executive officer Neil Ferguson said. “We’ve always been a bit more office and dealership-focused.
“But we just liked the look of this one and while the site has significant vacancy, it is well-known to the market, having served many iconic Queensland companies over the years.”
Queensland Independent Wholesalers, Super A-mart & S Freighters and Northline Freight have all previously operated out of the facility.
The site was sold 55% vacant and has 31/4 year WALE (weighted average lease expiry) on the occupied space.
“It’s an older building, but it’s got good bones and its great location and access have made it extremely successful transport and operations hub,: Mr Ferguson said.
The property has exposure to Ipswich Rd and Donaldson Rd and comprises 24,244sq m of warehouse and 2701sq m of office space. Existing tenants included Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd and TR Corporation.
Mr Ferguson said Zupp Property did not have any immediate plans to redevelop the large site.
“Of course we understand that in the future the property may be attractive for redevelopment but we currently have two excellent tenants and our team in working hard to lease the remaining 13,844sq m warehouse and 1100sq m of office space,’ he said.
