Retail action in the south-east

Fitzroys has completed a successful auction campaign in the Eve Central shopping centre, situated on the corner of William-Thwaites Boulevard and Glasscocks Road in Cranbourne North.

Eve Central, located in the Casey growth corridor, whose population is expected to swell to 375,000 by 2026, is a neighbourhood-based shopping centre anchored by an IGA and Chemist Warehouse.

The properties sold included four convenience tenants: shop 3, Shine@Eve (hairdresser), sold for $370,000 at a 7.2 per cent yield shop 5, Yum Yum Bakery, $670,000 at a 6.5 per cent yield shop 7, Chicken@Eve (charcoal chicken), $485,000 at a 6.85 per cent yield and shop 8, Off the Boat (fish & chips), $402,000 at a 6.86 per cent yield.

Kiran Pillai of Fitzroys, who handled the sales with David Bourke, said the properties received strong interest from small private investors and private superannuation funds.

Fitzroys also sold the ground-floor property at 76 Thomas Street, Dandenong, at auction for $456,000. The shop is leased to a hairdresser and is returning $36,000 a year.

It is located within the Arkana development, a mixed-use development by Deal Corporation that incorporates serviced apartments, office tenancies including State Trustees and Worksafe Victoria, and retail space.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has also leased 500 square metres in Arkana for three years, with a net effective rental of $290 per square metre. The department will take out level 4 of the building, which is now fully occupied. Andrew Field from Jones Lang LaSalle negotiated the deal.

Other recent activity in the Dandenong office precinct has included the Chisholm Institute committing to 1600 square metres at 311 Lonsdale Street and Uniting Care leasing space on Princes Highway.

Mr Field said tenants were looking at central Dandenong with fresh eyes. "This is one of the few opportunities in the south-east office market that still has attractive rents and access to the major south-east rail hub," he said.