Natgen Seeds Fund with Inverell Mall

Brisbane based fund manager National & General Group, or Natgen, will seed its first interstate trust with a regional New South Wales centre acquired for $11.305 million earlier this year.

Central Plaza, covering 23 Lawrence Street and 101-121 Byron, at Inverell, about 80 kilometres south of the border, was offloaded by a syndicate at a 6.75 per cent capitalisation rate.

With 5365 square metres, anchored to Supa IGA, it includes 15 specialty stores, some occupied by medical and education groups; the Weighted Average Lease Expiry is 2.9 years.

The 6048 sqm site contains 112 car parks.

Inverell’s economy contributes about $26.8 billion per year – about 10pc of the shire’s output; Gross Domestic Product has grown 3pc annually since 2015, Natgen managing director, Steven Goakes, said.

The Inverell Shire Council is recognised for its economic diversity – with established agriculture, education, manufacturing and mining sectors – but no one industry accounting for more than 20pc of employment, he added.

Boss Engineering, Bindaree Food Group and the Inverell Regional Livestock Exchange are amongst the precinct’s biggest businesses.

Single-asset fund closed oversubscribed

Central Plaza will be held by the Natgen Investment Trust IR22, which closed oversubscribed earlier this year (story continues below).

The manager intends to own between five and six years, during which time it aims to distribute unitholders 8.5pc, per annum.

Natgen controls three funds, all of which are single-asset backed:

• Natgen Investment Trust GD21, with the Rededge Shopping Centre in Goodna, south west of Brisbane, acquired for $10.1m last November;
• Natgen Investment Trust KT21, also holding a convenience retail and medical centre, but worth $6m, in Kingsthorpe, west of Toowoomba, and the
• Natgen Development Trust UC19, which owns a $5.25m office/warehouse at Upper Coomera, a north Gold Coast suburb.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated interest in strong regional economies, with population growth expected to increase in these areas,” Mr Goakes said.

“As a significant shopping centre with a stable retail mix, Central Plaza Inverell contributes to the town’s position as a retail and services hub, with the area’s prosperity underpinning its growth prospects,” he added.

Melbourne based Leiba Commercial’s Mark Leiba and Jonathan Rosenthal brokered the Central Plaza sale.

Ray White Inverell’s Ron Berkeley has been retained as centre manager.

As seen in the Realestate Source