By Grace Jones | posted on July 11, 2019
PLANS to relocate Bunnings Warehouse from Albany Highway to Chester Pass Mall still have a few hoops to jump through until the planned 14,000sqm behemoth can begin to break ground.
The popular green hardware store is situated on land owned by Perth based real estate investment trust magnate BWP Trust, which currently owns the largest number of Bunnings Warehouse sites across Australia.
According to their property portfolio from December 2018, the Albany site has a land area of 31,651sqm, a retail area of 13,660sqm, and reports an annual rent of $904,854.
In comparison the Geraldton site in the state’s north, also owned by BWP Trust, has a retail area of 17,874sqm and a reported annual rent of $1,318,888.
Bunnings Director of Property Andrew Marks said the company had lodged a development application for a new building to replace the current store next to the Chester Pass Mall, on the corner of Chester Pass Road and Brooks Garden Boulevard.
“If approved, the new Bunnings Warehouse development would span over 14,000 square metres and feature a fully enclosed timber yard, nursery and more car parking for our customers,” he said.
“All team members from the existing Albany store will transfer to the new store once complete and could be joined by additional new team members.”
Perth based property tycoons M/Group currently owns the site after purchasing Albany Brooks Garden Shopping Centre for $20 million in 2017 and subsequently rebranded to Chester Pass Mall.
M/Group Director James Collis said the anticipated development would bring families from across the Great Southern region to shop in Albany.
Despite the excitement to get the shovels in the ground, City of Albany Manger of Building, Health and Compliance Scott Reitsema said they had not yet received a building application, as the planning application for the site would need to be approved and then assessed by the Southern Joint Development Assessment Panel.
“There will be a public comment period commencing shortly which will have the information relating to the potential building and corresponding block of land,” he said.
The BWP Trust report on the Albany Bunnings Warehouse site states the current valuation for the property stands at $15,100,000 with the lease starting date from November 1, 1999.
The Weekender asked Mr Marks that based on that date and a standard commercial lease of 20 years, it could be assumed that the lease on the site would be concluding this year, and if that was the case – would the end of the lease affect their movement plans?
Mr Marks did not answer that question and a BWP Trust spokesperson did not comment on the potential move that could lose them more than $900,000 a year from rent.
