Charter Hall’s $7 billion wholesale industrial and logistics fund, CPIF, has acquired a $106 million life sciences campus in Boronia, Melbourne from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The facility is currently used by GSK as their Australian manufacturing hub for high-volume products and ‘Blow-Fill-Seal’ manufacturing. GSK will lease back the property for 2.3 years on triple net terms from settlement with annual CPI reviews.
The site consists of a substantial 16.8-hectare property with 33,878 square metres of pharmaceutical-grade, campus-style improvements comprising a mixture of high clearance warehouse (temperature-controlled and ambient), corporate office and laboratory accommodation. The site’s low 20 per cent site coverage offers multiple strategic options to create long-term secure income streams and add incremental value through redevelopment.
The landholding is located in Boronia some 30 kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD and is one of the last remaining industrial zoned land holdings of significant scale in Melbourne’s East.
The site sits on Mountain Highway which provides access to the CBD and is within close proximity to the Eastlink which connects the Eastern, Monash and Peninsula Link Freeways.
CPIF’s Fund Manager, Richard Mason, said: “The site provides CPIF will multiple strategic options following GSK’s departure in late 2023. There is potential for substantial future redevelopment and repositioning opportunities to expand or reconfigure the existing improvements, given its large landholding and low site coverage.”
“The acquisition is in line with CPIF’s strategy to increase its geographical exposure to core eastern seaboard markets, being one of few opportunities of significant scale in the tightly held Eastern Melbourne industrial market where prospects for rental growth are considered strong and historical trend for valuation growth has typically outperformed the broader industrial market.”
CPIF’s $7 billion portfolio is one of Australia’s largest industrial and logistics portfolios comprising industrial and logistics assets, underpinned by long-term leases and strong tenant covenants, with a further $780 million WALE accretive committed development pipeline.