Coast legacy on block
‘The introduction of Harris Farm ... has been a game-changer’
Sanctuary Cove owner Mulpha is selling a legacy of former Gold Coast mayor, the late Sir Bruce Small – the Isle of Capri shopping centre.
Mulpha bought the centre for $65.5m in 2022, the year after Harris Farm Markets arrived as a new anchor tenant.
Expressions of interest are being sought in the property, which started life as the Isle of Capri Commercial Centre and today is the Capri on Via Roma centre. It was developed in the 1960s by Sir Bruce and son the late Kelly Small and was the first Gold Coast shopping centre to be accessible by water.
Sir Bruce used to boat from his home on private island Wanamara to shop.
Sam McVay, of McVay Real Estate, yesterday said the centre was a trophy lifestyle asset.
“The introduction of Harris Farm to Capri on Via Roma has been a game-changer for the centre.
“The unique tenancy mix, combined with an affluent catchment area, has seen centre productivity top $15,400 a square metre and that figure is growing rapidly.”
The centre was bought from a Small company in 2006, reportedly for $13m, by Sydney investor Simon Harvey and family.
The Harveys embarked on a $50m, two-stage revamp in 2011, with a supermarket as the anchor tenant.
Further changes were made to the centre two years ago to accommodate Harris Farm.
Capri on Via Roma is on a 1.123ha waterfront site, with 2888sq m of surplus land adjacent to the centre.
That land provides carparking for 80 vehicles and concept schemes have been prepared for the site to take 11 townhouses. The three-building centre has 49 tenancies, which include waterfront restaurants and commercial offices, and has a marina.
There is parking for 256 cars, much of it in a basement.
The weighted average lease term is 5.4 years and the centre is netting $5m a year.
Mr McVay is marketing the centre in tandem with Dan McVay and Stonebridge’s Carl Molony and Philip Gartland.
Expressions of interest close on March 21.