Greensborough retail centre sells for $11 million as US firm looks for new sectors

Blackstone, a large private equity firm from the US, has offloaded a large-format retail centre in Melbourne’s north as it continues to sell through many of their Australian assets.

The 3,306sqm Greensborough property stands on more than half a hectare of land and sold for around $11 million to a local developer.

The site, at 106-126 Main Street Greensborough, is occupied by a large Savers (a second-hand retail store), six shops, a medical centre and a large carpark. The last Blockbuster in Victoria held residence in the complex until November last year.

The new owner is a family-run local developer group named Angelo Property Group. Ange Angelo, the property group founder, said that a number of ASX-listed companies had already pre-committed to the site "for the delivery of a major commercial and retail development with an end development value of $100 million".

The sale was handled by CBRE’s Julian White, David Minty and Kevin Tong, who marketed the property with potential for a 12-level apartment building comprising of 300 units and ground-floor retail. The site currently retains a passive net income stream of $506,000 (on a fully leased basis).

Blackstone has recently sold down much of its Australian portfolio including the Figtree Grove shopping centre in Wollongong, which it sold for $206 million late last year. Another Blackstone mall, the Top Ryde City Shopping Centre in Sydney is now also available for purchase; the centre commands an estimated $700 million price tag.

These sales come as Blackstone looks to divest their mall portfolio to make way for investments in alternative sectors. The New York based company currently manages a US$120 billion (AUD$168 billion) global real estate portfolio, with Sydney-based 151 Property acting as their Australian representative.