The assets at 26 Brandl St, 77 Brandl St and 4/107 Miles Platting Rd have a combined net lettable area of about 8170sq m.
They were purchased almost fully-leased except for one 208sq m vacancy on the ground floor at 26 Brandl St.
The properties within the Eight Mile Plains precinct were divested by Sydney-based fund manager Denison and were part of its unlisted Denison Diversified Property Fund.
Zupp Property Group, the development and investment company of former king of the car dealerships John Zupp and his family, swooped on the assets in an off-market transaction.
It signals the Gold Coast-based group’s re-entry into the Brisbane office market and first foray into the office park asset class.
“We’ve been out of the market for two years because we just didn’t see any value in it,” said Zupp’s chief executive officer Neil Ferguson.
“It has been a little while coming but vendor expectations are now more realistic and there’s a recognition that the value of a building has to reflect its true leasing position in the market.”
The recently-settled deal brings its Brisbane office acquisitions to more than $60 million.
It acquired 121 Wharf St, Spring Hill, in 2013 for $24 million and the following year snapped up 349 Coronation Drive, Milton, for $15.03 million.
Mr Ferguson said the addition of the Brisbane Technology Park assets — with a weighted average lease expiry across the three properties of 2.64 years — was in line with the group’s value-add acquisition strategy.
“Ultimately, it’s a yield play for us and, as we’ve done with our other assets, we’ll be looking at resetting the buildings, refurbishing where needed and making sure we retain the already solid base of tenants.”
JLL’s Elliott OShea and Blake Goddard negotiated the deal, which was structured as a carve-out of the Denison fund’s broader portfolio sale to Propertylink.
Mr Goddard said the appeal of the assets was the low vacancy rate within Brisbane Technology Park as well as the value proposition offered in comparison to other near-city precincts.
“This transaction is just another sign of the investment fundamentals these office parks offer,” he said.
Mr O’Shea said Zupp’s moved quickly to secure the three properties with terms agreed within a few days.
“We needed to introduce a group who could operate within tight time frames and who were not subject to finance or capital raising,” he said. “Zupp Property Group was the logical buyer in this regard.”
Original article published at www.couriermail.com.au by Phil Bartsch 09/9/16