Adelaide commercial property manager FRP Capital paid listed property investor Charter Hall $85m for the Brickworks Marketplace at Torrensville.

In 2014 Charter Hall bought the South Rd site from Woolworths for $7.75 million, meaning the value of the property has increased by $77.45 million.

The company beat its own expectations too, having told shareholders in 2014 that it anticipated the completion value would be $75 million.

Prior to the sale to FRP, the property was owned by Charter Hall and Telstra Super via a 50/50 joint venture.

Over the last nine years Charter Hall transformed the site into a major supermarket location on 4.44ha, with anchor tenants Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s and Big W.

The shops were built on the site of the former J. Hallett and Son brickworks, which was later developed into a popular marketplace selling fruit and vegetables plus jewellery, clothes and other stalls. It also featured go-karts, bumper boats, mini golf and more.

The prominent chimney was heritage listed in 1983 and is the last remaining such kiln in Adelaide. In 2016 the West Torrens Council spent $1.5 million on a restoration project to give the structure a makeover.

Charter Hall said the sale price represented a $4.9 million premium to its December 2022 book valuation.

“This sale is a strong outcome for QCR and its wholesale partner Telstra Super,” Charter Hall Retail CEO Ben Ellis said.

“The sale was the result of an unsolicited offer and demonstrates the underlying quality and the strong demand for CQR’s Convenience Plus retail assets.

“It also demonstrates Charter Hall’s on-going focus on curating our portfolios to recycle capital and invest for the benefit of unitholders.”

The purchasing party, FRP Capital, has been looking for investors in its ‘Brickworks Marketplace Fund’ to acquire the site since late October 2022.

According to an investor briefing on the Adelaide-based firm’s site, FRP aimed to raise $39.3 million of equity “to purchase this trophy asset”.

Over the next five years, FRP hopes to achieve a 6.07 per cent return on investment.

FRP’s other fund is a ‘Diversified Essential Services Fund’, which targets local neighbourhood shopping centres in regional and suburban areas throughout Australia.

In SA, FRP owns 838 Marion – a suburban centre with tenants including 99 Bikes, Haggle, X Golf and more – and a large-format retail centre in Mt Gambier anchored by Petbarn, Supercheap Auto and BCF.

The company also owns a suburban shopping centre Carramar Village in Perth, and a regional West Australian centre Carnarvon Central.