Realside Property’s $107 million purchase of Maddington Central has paved the way for Sirona Urban to transform the site.

Realside Property’s $107 million purchase of Maddington Central Shopping Centre from Vicinity Centres has settled today, with Sirona Urban appointed to transform the site.

The syndicator, which has offices in Perth and Sydney, acquired the asset as part of its plans to diversify into the retail space.

The deal, brokered off market and initially flagged in April, marked Vicinity Centre’s second major Western Australian divestment for the year and fourth since mid-2023.

Realside has appointed Sirona Urban, known for developing apartment and retail projects around Perth and Fremantle, as the property’s asset and development manager.

Realside said Sirona was tasked with delivering “the vision of creating a town centre and improved community amenity for Maddington”.

Realside chief executive Linda Rudd said Maddington Central was the company’s first retail asset acquisition and capitalised on current market trends and opportunities.

“Population growth, compelling market indicators and high retail occupancy levels are driving demand for sub-regional retail assets,” she said.

“For Realside, the Maddington Central Shopping Centre presented the ideal opportunity to diversify and expand on our existing office and industrial portfolio.”

Maddington Central has three hectares of developable land around the shopping centre. Photo: Realside Property

Ms Rudd added that the shopping centre’s zoning and three hectares of vacant land offered significant mixed-use potential.

Situated 17 kilometres south-east of Perth, the 27,661sqm sub-regional, single level shopping centre was built on 13 hectares of land.

It attracts about 4.5 million visitors each year, and is 600 metres from the Maddington train station.

Sirona Urban managing director Matthew McNeilly said partnering with Realside on Maddington provided another opportunity to revitalise a town centre.

“This will be another opportunity to apply our skills and expertise to a suburban setting, to transform a typical Australian sub-regional shopping centre into a new activity centre,” he said.

Maddington Central is anchored by Coles, Kmart and Woolworths, and first opened in 1980.

It was refurbished in 2020 and includes more than 2,000 car bays and has a four-star green performance rating.

The centre will remain as business as usual for the medium term, while Sirona formulates a plan for the area.

CBRE‘s Simon Rooney and James Douglas brokered the deal for the centre on Vicinity’s behalf. 

Realside’s move represents a growing trend in the retail sector to combine shopping districts with residential precincts.

Blackburne is part way through developing apartments at Karrinyup and has a plan to revitalise Ocean Village in City Beach.

APIL also has a plan to incorporate residential towers into its Floreat Forum asset.

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