Hefty price tag for Geraldton Homemaker Centre flags development intentions

The Geraldton Homemaker Centre on North West Coastal Highway looks set to undergo further development after it changed hands last month for a hefty $28.25 million.

The property, which had been owned by Sentinel Property Group for 51/2 years, has been bought by Australian multinational Harvey Norman Holdings.

Harvey Norman general manager for property James Scott said the purchase was in line with the company’s property investment profile.

“We’re very pleased with the acquisition,” he said. “It was a good investment and we’re in the early planning stages for future development of the area.”

The 4.73ha site on North West Coastal Highway was opened in 2006 and boasts 12 national tenants, including McDonald’s, Supercheap Auto, Spotlight, and Forty Winks.

Sentinel, a Brisbane-based property investor, bought the property as part of its expansion into the WA market in 2015 at a cost of $27.3m.

At the time, managing director Warren Ebert said the acquisition demonstrated the company’s confidence in the strength and continued growth of the Geraldton economy.

Mr Ebert said the decision to sell was based on analysis of the market amid a COVID-19 pandemic-driven surge in foot traffic to retail stores.

Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Joanne Fabling said the strong price commanded by the centre was an indication of the health of Geraldton’s economy. “Opportunity has been building in the Mid West for several years now,” she said.

“We’re pleased to see such strong interest in Geraldton from national companies.”

“I think we’ll see some great development out at that site over the coming years.” The well-known retail centre was built locally by Crothers Construction and has a total floor space of 15,950sqm.

It was originally built in 2006 and then extended twice, in 2008, and later in 2011.