New owners to refurbish Geraldton’s Northgate Shopping Centre following $70 million sale

The new owner of a Geraldton shopping centre with a history of leaking ceilings and poor air-conditioning says it has plans to “refurbish” but not “redevelop” the retail complex.

Centuria Capital Group subsidiary Primewest has secured Northgate Shopping Centre for $71.2 million, with an unlisted wholesale fund opening to investors this week.

The Chapman Road centre’s tenants include Kmart, Coles and 28 other businesses.

The complex is known to have problems with leaking when it rains, with Primewest head of retail Bruce McCully saying the property fund manager has plans to refurbish its new asset.

“There has been a fair bit of money spent on the centre already that you can’t really see, such as replacing the roof and air-conditioning and fire panels and switchboards,” he said.

“We will continue with the capital expenditure on that and we will do a few more cosmetic things that people can see and will have a positive impact on customers ... our plan is to refurbish it but not redevelop it. We will continue to spend money on the asset but not change it in a major way.”

Mr McCully said Northgate was “the best shopping destination in Geraldton” and Primewest planned to provide opportunities for other retailers to trade from the centre.

“There are tenants in there like the optometrist and the hairdresser who have been there since the centre opened, so we intend to retain those businesses and also offer opportunities for other local businesses to enter that centre,” he said.

“There are some vacancies there ... most of the vacancies there are leased out to tenants on a casual basis.”

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The shopping centre is Primewest’s first Geraldton asset, with Mr McCully saying the company was “keen” to invest in the city.

“Geraldton is a town where we see good growth opportunities, and the amount of money that’s been spent in Geraldton by governments has been pretty substantial,” Mr McCully said.

“The fact that the mining companies are now doing fly-in, fly-out operations in Geraldton just creates a whole new level of increased residential opportunities.”

Kmart recently started a new 10-year lease at the centre, with the retail giant and Coles accounting for 49 per cent of Northgate’s gross rental income.