Buying near shopping centres can yield results

Following shopping centre plans is increasingly a strategy of savvy property investors buying off of the back of multi-million dollar development research from retail companies, such as Mirvac and Westfield.

Westfield spokesperson Julia Clarke explained to Smart Property Investment that numerous factors are explored before the area for a shopping centre is even considered as it is often the first step in building an 'activity centre'.

“From availability of land, trade area, retailer demand to come into that area, external economic climate, whether we’ve got an active development pipeline and whether it fits the strategy, there’s just a huge amount of research.

“These are multi-million dollar projects, so lots of demographic studies are involved to ensure we can see if it’s in a growth corridor,” Ms Clarke said.

However, investors must be careful that they know what they are buying into and do their homework.

“It’s very important to determine whether in fact the shopping centre or the retail development is located in the Designated Activity Area or is in an Out Of Centre location," Mr Cockburn said.

"If it’s in an Out Of Centre location then there will not necessarily be that guarantee that the infrastructure and services will be provided on the timescale investors are looking for. I think that’s the main problem for investors."

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