Subiaco based QUBE Property has this week confirmed the recent acquisition of two key WA-based assets in both the residential and industrial sectors.

The group’s Managing Director, Mark Hector, confirmed the recent acquisition of a key residential site in Hammond Park south of Perth and the settlement of a strategically located 1.004 hectare industrial lot in Canning Vale in Perth’s south.

The $6.3 million Canning Vale sale was brokered off market by Justin Mabarrack, head of commercial and industrial sales and leasing at Effective Property Solutions.

The Canning Vale property is located at 15-19 Ilda Road and is a well-maintained industrial facility within the Canning Vale Industrial Estate and is currently leased to Industrial Asset Solutions (IAS) Group, a UGL Limited subsidiary, on a recently extended five-year lease. QUBE Property estimates the Weighted Average Lease Expiry (WALE) at settlement to be 4.25 years by income.

The property is centrally located within the industrial zone and extends between Baile and Canvale Roads with Baile Road an integral east-west distributor access route within Canning Vale.

The strategically located site provides around 1,700 square metres of building area on site with the remainder currently used by the existing, long-term tenant as open yard.

Mr Hector said that while the property was currently well maintained and fit for purpose, the current low site coverage presented significant expansion or redevelopment opportunities in an area of ongoing constrained supply.

“The site’s low site coverage of approximately 17% represents significant upside for our investors, with approximately 60% of the purchase price attributable to land value alone,” he said.

“Its location in a sought-after industrial precinct only adds value in a market where there is strong occupier and investor appetite for well-located industrial assets of this nature.

“The Canning Vale industrial area is home to a large number of major domestic and international companies and there is now little to no vacant land available in the area for future industrial development, all of which adds significant value.”

Mr Hector said that QUBE Property had called for expressions of interest (EOIs) from its investor base to fund the purchase of the site and had then been forced to close the EOI process within a four-hour period due to overwhelming demand.

“We have been around now for 27 years and have developed a solid reputation during that time for our targeted asset and investment choices and their return to investors, however the level of interest generated by this asset was extremely high.

“It is a reflection of the quality of this asset and its scarcity in a premium precinct and also of the continued appeal of property as an investment choice during a time of ongoing external volatility,” he added.

“COVID crystallised the need for many businesses that rely on international supply chains to maintain a local network of manufacturing, storage and delivery and this has resulted in a continued very low vacancy rate across key industrial precincts like Canning Vale.”

Selling agent, Justin Mabarrack, said WA’s industrial vacancy rates were currently at historical lows, with fewer properties available for lease and a reduced amount of new supply hitting the market.

“Canning vale is one of the key precincts in the Southern Industrial Corridor and has experienced renewed demand over the past three years.

“The property’s low site coverage provides excellent future redevelopment potential with the ability to construct multiple warehouses on site, due to the substantial land holding,” he said.

QUBE Property has also confirmed the purchase this week of a 3.18ha urban zoned site within the growing Hammond Park West precinct south of Perth, adjoining the group’s existing landholdings.

The purchase of the strategically located site, from the WA Planning Commission (WAPC), via a competitive on market sale process, further consolidates QUBE Property’s significant footprint in the area and confirms its position as the leading developer in this growing residential precinct.

The site, which is located on Wattleup Road, will be developed into 47 residential lots and follows the company’s Hammond West, Hammond Grove and Hammond Rise developments, which have a combined yield of 400 plus residential lots, with earthworks on the newly acquired site set to commence before the end of the calendar year.

The average size of the lots to be offered for sale will be between 311 and 506sqm, with Mr Hector saying easing market conditions had seen a trend back towards smaller lots.

The site is located 30 minutes south of the Perth CBD and provides a range of established amenities including a proposed local shopping centre, medical services, sporting fields, a range of public and private schools, and is located within close proximity to the Aubin Grove Train Station.

The site is also adjacent to the State Government’s recently announced $26 million Wattleup East Primary School, which is expected to commence construction in 2023. The new school will accommodate 430 students from kindergarten to year six and is expected to open its doors in time for the commencement of the 2024 school year.

QUBE Property has also commenced the design for the development of a childcare centre next to the  new Wattelup East Primary School site and another next to the Apsley Mandogalup Primary School site and will be calling for expressions of interests from suitably qualified operators in the coming weeks.

“While residential sales have softened off the recent peak, the residential property market in WA is not experiencing anything like the correction that we are seeing on the east coast,” Mr Hector added.

“The reduced buyer activity and negative sentiment currently being widely reported in the media is, in our opinion, based on east coast data and not what is happening in the WA market, which has a strong resources sector and the lowest unemployment level in the country.”

Mr Hector said the company continually eyed opportunities across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors and remained committed to WA-based assets, however he did not rule out expanding to the east coast in the mid to longer term.

QUBE Property has 70,000 sqm of commercial office and retail property developed and under management and land projects yielding more than 3,500 future residential lots.

For media enquiries please contact Georgie Sweeting | 0417 179 024 | georgie@quillcommunications.com.au