Delacombe BP sells for $6.7 million

A NEWLY built and opened BP service station site on the corner of the Glenelg Highway and Wiltshire Lane in Delacombe has sold for a song during the pandemic lockdown.

Nine expressions of interests from local, interstate and international buyers were received on the site which also includes two retail outlets, as well as a 15-year BP lease.

In the end the successfully buyer was from Victoria and paid $6.7 million for the recent development. A strong result during the COVID-19 pandemic said Rorey James, director of strip retail investments with CBRE.

“We are still experiencing strong investor demand off the back of a backlog of demand from early in the year,” he said.

“BP Delacombe has been the only on market service station to be offered in Victoria since COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic. The level of strong interest further highlights buyer demand remaining for securely leased investments, especially acknowledging low supply levels.

“The current climate has seen more buyers look towards long term income security, as they seek a ‘flight to quality’ as alternative investments such as the share market and term deposits become less and less attractive.”

Mr James said the service station’s location in the growing south-west of the city also played a part in the price the site fetched.

“According to the City of Ballarat, Delacombe has a current estimated population of about 6394 people and this is expected to grow by more than 50 per cent over the next 15 years and to nearly 15,073 by 2036,” he said.

“Population growth has been taken into consideration more and more with securely leased retail investments, as we have seen with other assets in similar locations buyers are putting a high weighting on the growth forecasted in the future which may impact the future longevity of the region.”