MFS lists Surfers Paradise centre Email Print Normal font Large font AdvertisementCarolyn Cummins April 1, 2008
MFS, soon to trade as Octaviar, has put the for sale sign out on the Circle on Cavill office and retail centre in the heart of Surfers Paradise with an asking price of close to $90 million.
The selling agents, Colliers International, which has offices in the complex, said the centre turned over about $5.3 million a year in income but could do more given the constant high retail demand from tourists on the Gold Coast.
The listing comes as the company looks to sell its Port Douglas properties including the Sheraton Mirage Resort, Mirage Country Club and golf course, two development sites and the Bale Resort.
Other asset sales are planned by the group's MFS Living and Leisure subsidiary, which held an extraordinary general meeting on the Gold Coast yesterday to approve its name change to Living and Leisure Australia.
That meeting followed one in Melbourne by the overall group, MFS, on Friday at which the chairman, Andrew Peacock, said he would step down and the group would be known as Octaviar.
At yesterday's Gold Coast meeting the directors told investors that its business had been affected by the troubles at MFS and that it would embark on asset sales to help refinance its business. Living and Leisure's main assets are the Mount Hotham and Falls Creek ski resorts in Victoria.
The acting chief executive of Living and Leisure, John Schryver, told the gathering that the group had outstanding debts of $185 million and was in negotiations with its senior and unsecured lender to extend the terms of the facilities to June 30, subject to the sale of assets, refinancing or recapitalisation.
Circle on Cavill is owned by Sunleisure Property Holdings, another subsidiary of MFS-Octaviar. It includes two residential towers adjacent to the retail and office complex, which comprises ground-floor retail and A-grade office space, open-air restaurants and cafes. International tourists are said to favour the centre for its upmarket fashion labels.
Nathan Clarke, Colliers International's national director, retail agency, said tourists kept the Gold Coast's cash registers ringing while the rest of the country felt the pinch of higher interest rates. "There has already been a lot of interest in the site from overseas-based property developers and investors," Mr Clarke said.
In a recent report by the independent property researcher Midwood, the Gold Coast was said still to be the fastest growing region in Australia.
