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12 August 2015

Australand unveils new team for the future

Australand has announced several new senior management appointments to take the business into its next phase of growth. New CEO Rod Fehring, who stepped into the role on 29 July following the resignation of Bob Johnston, has acted promptly to establish a new senior management team, which will herald a new era for a company that has operated in Australia for over 90 years. Anthony Boyd takes over Mr Fehrings previous post as Executive General Manager Residential, while Reini Otter has been appointed Executive General Manager Commercial & Industrial, taking over from Sean McMahon. Sean McMahon assumes the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer, based largely in Sydney, to sharpen Australand s focus on its business model during a new phase of reinvestment for the company, and to capitalise on opportunities to develop new business platforms.

CEO Rod Fehring said the new team is a reflection of Australand s culture of developing and providing opportunities for talented people. Anthony Boyd was previously General Manager Residential for Victoria, while Reini Otter was General Manager - Northern Region for the Commercial and Industrial division. We have created a platform for talented management to step up and demonstrate their capacity to shape the business going forward, and these appointments reflect the success of this strategy, Mr Fehring said. Our new Executive General Managers and our Chief Investment Officer all come from within the organisation, a clear reflection of the talent we have in our ranks. This is an exciting time for our company and with this management team in place, we are ideally positioned for growth, he said.

For further information please contact: Trudy Wise Wise McBaron Communication Telephone: 02 9279 4770

http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...baa28e7376

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Meanwhile, Singapore-listed Fraser Centrepoint has addressed expectations that it will spin off its passive industrial holdings into a Singapore-listed new trust.

The company, controlled by Thai ­tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which acquired Australand last year, has been carefully watching the GIC sale.Frasers CEO Lim Ee Seng said the compression of capitalisation rates was a factor as it evaluated whether to launch a REIT. “It’s something that needs to work from our perspective, you need to have the right scale and pipeline and equity story,” he said.

Singapore’s Ascendas to take $1.1bn GIC portfolio
BEN WILMOT, INDUSTRIAL
378 words
7 Aug 2015
The Australian
AUSTLN
English

The industrial property sector has been set alight by the impending sale of GIC Real Estate’s $1.1 billion portfolio to Singaporean property group Ascendas and plans by Frasers Centrepoint to spin off its $1.25bn worth of Australian industrial holdings into a new trust.

The GIC portfolio sale has come to a head with Ascendas emerging as a frontrunner after it entered talks with the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund and a rival bidder exited on Wednesday.

The Australian yesterday reported that a strong bid had come from Ascendas, which has long sought an Australian industrial platform to add to its holdings across Asia.

The preference for Ascendas is believed to have come down to its ability to pay about $1.1bn for the portfolio, with the pricing reflecting a yield of about 6 per cent.

The portfolio is likely to go into the flagship listed industrial trust run by Ascendas. It last night announced the Singapore-listed ­Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust was “actively exploring investment opportunities in mature developed markets for A-REIT”.

The fund had a portfolio of 105 properties worth about $S8.2bn at the end of June and it revealed that “it plans to expand its investment scope to cover new mature developed markets such as Australia and Germany”.

The group said A-REIT’s portfolio would remain predominantly Singapore-based assets, with the manager aiming for new ­mature markets to make up 20-30 per cent of the portfolio.

JLL and Colliers International have handled the deal for the 26-strong asset portfolio that comprises more than 630,000sq m of high-quality space in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Meanwhile, Singapore-listed Fraser Centrepoint has addressed expectations that it will spin off its passive industrial holdings into a Singapore-listed new trust.

The company, controlled by Thai ­tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which acquired Australand last year, has been carefully watching the GIC sale.Frasers CEO Lim Ee Seng said the compression of capitalisation rates was a factor as it evaluated whether to launch a REIT. “It’s something that needs to work from our perspective, you need to have the right scale and pipeline and equity story,” he said.


News Ltd.

Document AUSTLN0020150806eb870004b

Mr Werrett has sold Port Coogee Village, in a fund-through deal, worth approximately $22.1 million.

He said Australand would develop the 4430sqm centre, sold by its subsidiary Port Catherine Developments to Pradman Holdings No.2.

Shopping cente sales
Marissa Lague
326 words
12 Aug 2015
The West Australian
TWAU
English

Colliers International has sold three shopping centres worth more than $130 million — two still under construction and one established centre — in three weeks.

Fund-through deals, which carry less risk for developers because buyers pay for construction of a project in instalments, were used to sell the two centres being built as interest in subregional and neighbourhood centres grows.

Property developer Peet sold the planned Lakelands Shopping Centre north of Mandurah to one of Australia’s biggest superannuation property trusts in a $100 million fund-through deal that should see the centre open late in 2016.

Industry Superannuation Property Trust (ISPT) bought the 7.8ha Lakelands site, to house a 21,170sqm centre, with a 5000sqm Coles, 6000sqm Kmart and 1540sqm Aldi supermarket, 38 specialty shops, a First Choice Liquor Store and Coles Express Service Station.

The three retail developments were sold by Colliers International director retail investment services Mark Werrett who said the deals reflected growing interest by developers and investors for similarly structured projects.

“The fund-through structure is becoming popular for developers as a way to secure project financing and an end take-out agreement,” Mr Werrett said. “This development is an excellent investment for ISPT in a growing corridor.”

Mr Werrett has sold Port Coogee Village, in a fund-through deal, worth approximately $22.1 million.

He said Australand would develop the 4430sqm centre, sold by its subsidiary Port Catherine Developments to Pradman Holdings No.2.

The Port Coogee centre is likely to be completed by June and will be anchored by Woolworths and BWS and 12 specialty tenancies.

In the third transaction, Mr Werrett sold the Craigie Plaza Shopping Centre in Perth’s north for $10.8 million to Charming Investments, reflecting a yield of 6.99 per cent.

The 2933sqm centre, anchored by an IGA supermarket, was sold in an off-market transaction by interests associated with local investors and supermarket operator Peter Grant.


West Australian Newspapers Limited

Document TWAU000020150811eb8c0005u

Wynne gives Australand the nod for $500m brickworks development
379 words
13 Aug 2015
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English

Australand has got the green light to develop the 20-hectare former Burwood brickworks site in suburban Melbourne into a project with capacity for 950 dwellings.

Victoria's Planning Minister Richard Wynne has stepped in to fast-track the project with a rezoning and masterplan approval after the local council voted in favour of the plan earlier this year.

Last year, Australand paid $65 million to US investment group Reading International for the former quarry site on Middleborough Road in Burwood East.

"The old brickworks has sat dormant for far too long," Mr Wynne said.

"I'm pleased one of our leading developers has seen its potential to capitalise on the strong demand for houses and apartments in Melbourne's middle-ring suburbs."

The quarry site represents a rare infill opportunity on a large scale in the heart of Melbourne's affluent eastern suburbs, about 20 kilometres from the CBD.

The project will comprise as many as 950 dwellings in a mix of apartments, terraces and family homes.

It is expected that low-rise apartments will be established around a retail hub of more than 10,000 square metres.

The local council will still need to approve individual stages of the project, which could ultimately deliver as much as $500 million in developed real estate.

Australand's incoming chief executive, Rod Fehring, speaking on Tuesday before the approval came through, said the developer had been steadily filling in and compacting the site over the past eight months in preparation for construction.

"There will be low-rise apartments, medium density and a variety of product. It's going very well," he said.

Australand's success with the site follows a history of frustrated efforts to develop it by the US property group and cinema operator Reading.

Reading acquired the former quarry site in 1995 from Nubrick and immediately hatched plans for a 25-screen multiplex on the land.

Local cinema operators strenuously opposed the massive project by the foreign competitor and it failed to get approval. Reading reformulated its plans 10 years later into a mixed-use project, with a small component of screens, but that redevelopment also stalled. By 2010, Reading was trying to sell the site.

NICK LENAGHAN


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020150812eb8d0001w

Developers move in on historic mission site
Brian Bennion brian.bennion@qt.com.au
472 words
14 Aug 2015
The Queensland Times
APNQUT
English

A PROPOSED residential development on the Deebing Creek Mission site has angered local Aboriginal families who say houses and children’s play areas will be built over sacred burial sites.

Major property group Australand lodged plans with Ipswich City Council in November for close to 600 homes on the heritage listed site.

The site began as a mission in 1887 and operated until 1915 when the mission was relocated to Purga. It was gazetted for Aboriginal purposes from 1892 to 1948 and then used for grazing where it was transferred into private ownership.

An intact brick well, historic plantings and a cemetery are noted in the Queensland Heritage Register listing of the site.

Current land owner Daryll Kelly lodged a proposal for a residential development under Deebing Developments in 2008 which received preliminary approval from council for further detailed investigations and cultural assessment and has not progressed.

The land has since been recognised as a priority area for future residential development by the State Government under the Ripley Valley Development Scheme and is surrounded by residential estates including Stockland’s Sovereign Pocket and the recently approved Paradise Waters and other large lot estates along Grampian Drive also approved for development.

Australand could not be contacted for comment yesterday but it is understood the development site is undergoing surveys and has been referred to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protections and the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships for further assessment.

A group of 20 Aboriginal people representing the Yuggera, Ugarapul and Waka Waka people, who said their ancestors were buried on the site, gathered at the former mission this week to protest the proposal.

They said authorities had confused the mission’s cemetery with the site where the headstone of the mission’s teacher was erected in the 1890s.

Roberta Graham said the authorities did not consult all the traditional owners when they sold the land and on the proposed development plans.

“It is a very significant site,” Mrs Graham said.

“It’s a spiritual site to us. This is our identity here. My great-great-great grandfather is buried here. There’s a lot of history. We want to preserve it.”

The State Government has identified the Jagera Daran Pty Ltd as the nominated cultural heritage body for the area and consultation has been ongoing with that group.

However Wade Thompson said the Jagera people were not considering the customs of other tribes who were at the mission.

“One of our customs is never to have this ground touched or desecrated in any way,” Mr Thompson said. “The people that are making the decisions here don’t understand our customs.”


APN Newspapers Pty Ltd

Document APNQUT0020150813eb8e000dx

Australand reshuffles its executive ranks
Nick Lenaghan
415 words
13 Aug 2015
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English

Diversified property group Australand has reshuffled its executive ranks, creating a new position of chief investment officer, as its capital recycling program picks up pace under its new owner, Singapore-listed Frasers Centrepoint.

The catalyst for the reshuffle is the departure of former chief executive Bob Johnston, who will replace Michael Cameron at GPT later this year.

Following that announcement last month, Frasers then moved quickly to promote veteran Rod Fehring to the top job.

On Wednesday, fresh promotions were announced with Australand's commercial and industrial head, Sean McMahon, to move into the new chief investment officer post.

In his wake, Reini Otter will move up to the post of executive general manager for commercial and industrial, while Anthony Boyd has been promoted to lead the residential division.

Mr Fehring described the changes as part of the natural succession within the business, although he volunteered that Australand was looking to improve gender diversity in its executive ranks.

Importantly, the restructure allows Australand to create a new investment role under its new owner, Frasers, which operates a platform of real estate investment trusts.

"It's about setting a longer term time frame," Mr Fehring said of the new role.

"We're not listed and we have an owner who has a very long-term view of the company's investment in the business and the market of Australia.

"We need to extend our thinking beyond this cycle and into the next cycle and the cycle after that.

"We've got a very strong portfolio, a very strong trading outlook for the medium-term.

"That will generate capital which needs to be reinvested. The CIO's primary task is to oversee that."

The Australand model has relied on its ability to develop new real estate across all the sectors, then sell on or hold that investment.

With its new owner in place, Australand now has ready buyers for assets.

Already, the Singapore-listed Frasers Commercial Trust has snapped up Australand's redevelopment of 357 Collins Street for $222.5 million.

"We've got access to a parent that has a series of trusts which are the natural buyers of product we create," Mr Fehring said. "There will be no change to our capacity to create product, which we think is a competitive advantage.

"The question is: how much do we hold, the terms on which we stabilise income and then sell those assets into the right ownership vehicle."


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020150812eb8d0001x

(12-08-2015, 06:37 PM)thor666 Wrote: [ -> ]12 August 2015

Australand unveils new team for the future

Australand has announced several new senior management appointments to take the business into its next phase of growth. New CEO Rod Fehring, who stepped into the role on 29 July following the resignation of Bob Johnston, has acted promptly to establish a new senior management team, which will herald a new era for a company that has operated in Australia for over 90 years. Anthony Boyd takes over Mr Fehrings previous post as Executive General Manager Residential, while Reini Otter has been appointed Executive General Manager Commercial & Industrial, taking over from Sean McMahon. Sean McMahon assumes the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer, based largely in Sydney, to sharpen Australand s focus on its business model during a new phase of reinvestment for the company, and to capitalise on opportunities to develop new business platforms.

CEO Rod Fehring said the new team is a reflection of Australand s culture of developing and providing opportunities for talented people. Anthony Boyd was previously General Manager Residential for Victoria, while Reini Otter was General Manager - Northern Region for the Commercial and Industrial division. We have created a platform for talented management to step up and demonstrate their capacity to shape the business going forward, and these appointments reflect the success of this strategy, Mr Fehring said. Our new Executive General Managers and our Chief Investment Officer all come from within the organisation, a clear reflection of the talent we have in our ranks. This is an exciting time for our company and with this management team in place, we are ideally positioned for growth, he said.

For further information please contact: Trudy Wise Wise McBaron Communication Telephone: 02 9279 4770

http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...baa28e7376

Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

> The company, controlled by Thai ­tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which acquired Australand last year, has been carefully watching
> the GIC sale.Frasers CEO Lim Ee Seng said the compression of capitalisation rates was a factor as it evaluated whether to launch a
> REIT. “It’s something that needs to work from our perspective, you need to have the right scale and pipeline and equity story,” he
> said.

A 6% yield for AUD property will be enough for investors to accept now?
It seems to me CEO is not ready to launch the new industrial REIT.

Guru GG and others, what is your reading?

(14-08-2015, 09:41 PM)Contrarian Wrote: [ -> ]> The company, controlled by Thai ­tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which acquired Australand last year, has been carefully watching
> the GIC sale.Frasers CEO Lim Ee Seng said the compression of capitalisation rates was a factor as it evaluated whether to launch a
> REIT. “It’s something that needs to work from our perspective, you need to have the right scale and pipeline and equity story,” he
> said.

A 6% yield for AUD property will be enough for investors to accept now?
It seems to me CEO is not ready to launch the new industrial REIT.

Guru GG and others, what is your reading?

Its remains as part of the script... Its how it will be rolled out. No worries.

Vested
Core
Gundu Giraffe

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-5719-...#pid118297

Like that any more worries?

(14-08-2015, 09:41 PM)Contrarian Wrote: [ -> ]> The company, controlled by Thai ­tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which acquired Australand last year, has been carefully watching
> the GIC sale.Frasers CEO Lim Ee Seng said the compression of capitalisation rates was a factor as it evaluated whether to launch a
> REIT. “It’s something that needs to work from our perspective, you need to have the right scale and pipeline and equity story,” he
> said.

A 6% yield for AUD property will be enough for investors to accept now?
It seems to me CEO is not ready to launch the new industrial REIT.

Guru GG and others, what is your reading?

Brickworks go-ahead

Jesse Wray-McCann
340 words
17 Aug 2015
Whitehorse Leader
WHITGA
English


THE State Government has fast-tracked the rezoning of the former brickworks site in Burwood East, paving the way for one of the biggest developments in Melbourne’s east.

Whitehorse Council earlier this year backed developer Australand’s $500 million, 950-home proposal for the 20.5ha Middleborough Rd site, which will include a 10,530sq m shopping centre and will be home to 2000 people.

Planning Minister Richard Wynne approved the rezoning of the site last Thursday, which Australand bought for $65 million in May last year.

“The old brickworks has sat dormant for far too long and I’m pleased one of our leading developers has seen its potential to capitalise on the strong demand for houses and apartments in Melbourne’s middle-ring suburbs,” Mr Wynne said.

Mr Wynne said he used his powers to fast-track the rezoning “so the developer can get on with transforming the site, one of the biggest development opportunities in the eastern suburbs”.

The council and Australand in February called on the minister to expedite the project after extensive consultation revealed the majority of the community did not want the development to be delayed.

A four-week consultation process for the proposal attracted 103 submissions, with 62 per cent supporting the development.

Mr Wynne said Australand plans to develop the site over six to eight years, and the 950 dwellings will be a mix of apartments, terraces and family homes.

Low-rise apartments will be concentrated around the retail hub, with a maximum of five storeys plus car parking.

The development will include 2.4ha of open space and is expected to generate 1150 direct and 1800 indirect jobs.

Stage one of the project will include the retail centre, main boulevard, residential development fronting Eley Rd and a section of residential dwellings along the Burwood Highway.

Stages two and three will include the remaining residential development. Whitehorse Council and Australand have been contacted for comment.

COST $500m HOMES 950 PEOPLE 2000SIZE 20.5 ha


News Ltd.

(13-08-2015, 11:56 PM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ]Wynne gives Australand the nod for $500m brickworks development
379 words
13 Aug 2015
The Australian Financial Review
AFNR
English

Australand has got the green light to develop the 20-hectare former Burwood brickworks site in suburban Melbourne into a project with capacity for 950 dwellings.

Victoria's Planning Minister Richard Wynne has stepped in to fast-track the project with a rezoning and masterplan approval after the local council voted in favour of the plan earlier this year.

Last year, Australand paid $65 million to US investment group Reading International for the former quarry site on Middleborough Road in Burwood East.

"The old brickworks has sat dormant for far too long," Mr Wynne said.

"I'm pleased one of our leading developers has seen its potential to capitalise on the strong demand for houses and apartments in Melbourne's middle-ring suburbs."

The quarry site represents a rare infill opportunity on a large scale in the heart of Melbourne's affluent eastern suburbs, about 20 kilometres from the CBD.

The project will comprise as many as 950 dwellings in a mix of apartments, terraces and family homes.

It is expected that low-rise apartments will be established around a retail hub of more than 10,000 square metres.

The local council will still need to approve individual stages of the project, which could ultimately deliver as much as $500 million in developed real estate.

Australand's incoming chief executive, Rod Fehring, speaking on Tuesday before the approval came through, said the developer had been steadily filling in and compacting the site over the past eight months in preparation for construction.

"There will be low-rise apartments, medium density and a variety of product. It's going very well," he said.

Australand's success with the site follows a history of frustrated efforts to develop it by the US property group and cinema operator Reading.

Reading acquired the former quarry site in 1995 from Nubrick and immediately hatched plans for a 25-screen multiplex on the land.

Local cinema operators strenuously opposed the massive project by the foreign competitor and it failed to get approval. Reading reformulated its plans 10 years later into a mixed-use project, with a small component of screens, but that redevelopment also stalled. By 2010, Reading was trying to sell the site.

NICK LENAGHAN


Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited

Document AFNR000020150812eb8d0001w