Centennial and its retail joint venture partner Parkstone have kicked off the year by purchasing its second regional shopping centre asset in Orange, 250km west of Sydney in the Central Tablelands, for $37.4 million in a deal managed by Steven Lerche of Savills and Nick Willis, Sam Hatcher and Sebastian Fahey of JLL.
‘The Village on Summer Street’ (the Village) is a prominent neighbourhood centre located in Orange city centre, occupying a 21,090m2 site representing the single largest landholding in the CBD.
The retail component, which currently comprises just over 23% of the site’s coverage or 4,974m2 of gross lettable area (GLA), gives the new owners significant scope to maximise returns and build on the centre’s tenancy mix.
Centennial and Parkstone acquired a 100% freehold stake in The Village on Summer Street from hospitality identity Bill Gravanis and renowned architect Paul Saunders, which was partly funded by a $20 million capital raising, which closed early and oversubscribed in December 2024.
The Village is anchored by Supa IGA, one of Australia’s top performing Dan Murphy’s, 10 specialty retailers and is supported by 268 car parks. The partnership is proposing to develop a further ~1,800m2 of retail space in the short term on the back of current demand from national retailers.
The centre was built in 1993 and underwent a significant $4 million refurbishment in late 2022 leading to the Village winning a major building award from the Master Builders’ Association of New South Wales in the latter half of 2024.
Executive Director of Centennial, Paul Ford, said the fund manager and developer was delighted to be partnering with Parkstone in its second retail joint venture.
“Parkstone is a specialist retail investment manager with proven expertise working across many retail assets nationally,” Ford said.
“We are fortunate to have a joint venture partner whose deep retail management experience and extensive retail tenant networks can be drawn upon to maximise returns for our investors while also supporting each centre’s management team and retailers.
“We are well on our way to scaling our retail exposure towards in excess of $1bn and during an attractive point in the retail sector cycle.
From an investor perspective, Ford added, “The centre offered strong defensive income based on its largely non-discretionary retail mix, positive growth indicators for the region and limited new supply of retail assets in the CBD.”
Parkstone’s retail portfolio now comprises around $300 million in assets under management across seven sub-regional and neighbourhood centres in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.
Parkstone’s Executive Director and co-founder, Christopher Day, said the group was equally pleased to be gaining a greater foothold into the flourishing Orange region, with its population growing in step with a thriving economy largely driven by diverse industry sectors, including tourism, agriculture, health, education, retail, mining and government.
“Orange is a major regional centre and gateway to western New South Wales,” Day said. “It supports a catchment area of more than 100,000 people from nearby towns and districts and is not dissimilar in demographics to our first retail joint venture with Centennial formed in early 2024 when we acquired Bundaberg’s 21,000m2 Hinkler Centre in central Queensland.
“Like Bundaberg, Orange is experiencing strong and sustained population growth driven by diverse employment opportunities, government infrastructure spending and access to quality services, including health and education facilities. These economic drivers are underpinned by more affordable housing options compared to the state capitals that are leading to sustained growth in the regions, underscored by surging migration numbers.
“The acquisition of The Village on Summer shopping centre not only broadens our exposure to a thriving regional centre in New South Wales, it also allows Parkstone to draw from our deep retail management experience to hone, develop and deliver the best shopping destinations and experiences for the communities where we operate,” Day said.
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