Built in 1986, Pakenham Place has undergone a number of facelifts over the years, matching the town’s rapid and dramatic growth. Now, it is on the market.By Paul Dunlop
THE Pakenham Place shopping centre is up for sale with a price tag of more than $50 million.
And the challenge facing a new owner is to make the centre grow even bigger.
In a move sure to create ripples in the business community, longtime shopping centre owners the Leonora Group have announced plans to sell off what is a lynchpin of the town’s retail hub.
Pakenham Place was built in 1986 and has undergone a number of facelifts over the years, matching the town’s rapid and dramatic growth.
Major tenants Safeway, Coles and Target have been joined in recent times by 27 speciality shops including Gloria Jeans, Priceline, Bakers Delight and Chemmart.
The 5.07 hectare site also offers scope for future development.
Some of Australia’s biggest retail developers are expected to be among the bidders for Pakenham Place.
Agents CB Richard Ellis are touting the sale as a rare chance to buy one of Melbourne’s premier subregional shopping centres.
It is expected the sale will prove the catalyst for a major redevelopment of the site.
Leonora Group representative Nevil Bird said buyers had a chance to unlock the centre’s “significant potential”.
Mr Bird said the private syndicate of owners behind the Leonora Group had worked with Cardinia Shire Council for several years on a draft masterplan to redevelop the site.
Mr Bird said he was keen to ensure that whoever bought the centre did just that.
“The property has been in our families for 15 years and it was not an easy decision to sell,” he said.
“But we believe we have taken Pakenham Place as far as we can and it is now time for an owner with more expertise and financial ‘clout’ than ourselves to unlock additional value and create the highquality, modern centre Pakenham deserves.
Mr Bird acknowledged that change always created controversy and that some residents were fearful of the town’s fast growth.
He said the shopping centre’s likely ownership change from a relatively small, familybased syndicate to a much larger group might be mourned by some, but Mr Bird believed the end result would be a plus for the town.
“Some people prefer Pakenham to be the way it was but it has been identified as a growth area and it is the responsibility of town planners — and developers — to respond to the State Government’s plans for the area,” he said.
Cardinia Shire Council acting chief executive officer Garry McQuillan said council believed there was significant potential for growth in the town centre.
CB Richard Ellis associate director Philip Gartland said he expected the property to be highly soughtafter.
“Pakenham is one of Australia’s fastest growing towns,” Mr Gartland said.
An expressions of interest campaign closes at noon on Friday, 3 November.
