KKR, Centennial Marketing Brisbane Logistics Complex for $86.4M

Four years after establishing a logistics development fund with Sydney-based fund manager Centennial, US private equity giant KKR is preparing to reap some returns from the venture, with the partners marketing a northern Brisbane warehouse complex for A$120 million ($86.4 million).

Just over half a year since completing the second phase of the Geebung Industrial Park, Centennial reported this month that the complex at 64 & 88 Brickyard Road in Geebung is more than 90 percent occupied. With that milestone achieved, a KKR-Centennial fund is seeking to sell the 34,420 square metre (370,360 square foot) property at around a 5.6 percent yield, according to Mingtiandi calculations based on marketing materials from brokers representing the sellers.

The infill logistics facility generates A$6.7 million in net income annually, according to a recent LinkedIn post by Tony Iuliano, head of logistics and industrial for Australia and New Zealand at Cushman & Wakefield, who noted that the complex is “located within one of Brisbane’s most land constrained industrial precincts.” Representatives of Centennial and KKR had yet to reply to inquiries from Mingtiandi by the time of publication.

Located around 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of central Brisbane, Geebung Industrial Park was one of three seed assets for Centennial and KKR’s Build 2 Core (B2C) Partnership Fund when the partners first announced the vehicle in March 2022, with a successful sale potentially setting a precedent for further disposals from the A$650 million, closed-ended strategy. 

Room for Expansion

The KKR-Centennial fund purchased what is now Geebung Industrial Park for A$29.8 million in February 2022 with 11,648 square metres (125,000 square feet) of lettable space on 68,417 square metres of land over two adjacent titles. Total investment in the project, including purchase price, acquisition costs and upgrades was estimated at A$63.8 million in 2022, according to a report on the fund by Core Research.

After acquiring the property as what it described as an A$30 million asset, the venture expanded the Geebung Industrial Park to 34,420 square metres of lettable area, with the potential to develop another 16,000 square metres of space on the site. Based on the indicative terms, the price translates to A$3,486 per square metre of current lettable area, according to Mingtiandi calculations.

Queensland building materials provider Bretts has leased 7,200 square metres for a decade-long term and international technology group Rohde & Schwarz has committed to 2,600 square metres, also for 10 years, according to a November 2024 notice on Centennial’s website. Iuliano indicated in his LinkedIn post that the property has a weighted average lease expiry of 5.4 years with current tenancies carrying “strong annual review structures.” 

The second phase of Geebung Industrial Park was completed in October of last year, with a May 2026 report from Centennial listing 3,200 square metres of space – equivalent to just over 7 percent of the project’s lettable area – available for lease. An expression of interest exercise managed by Cushman & Wakefield will run through 24 June. 

Extended Partnership

Targeting infill and last mile projects, the Build 2 Core Partnership Fund is the second Australian logistics tie-up between KKR and Centennial, with the US firm holding a 71.2 percent stake in the vehicle, while US-based Sabin Group has 10.2 percent and Centennial management carrying 1.7 percent. An additional 17 percent of the fund was made available to other investors, with Centennial targetting a 12 to 14 percent IRR for the vehicle, according to Core Research.

The Geebung Industrial Park was one of three seed assets in the venture, along with the A$39-million Somerton Industrial Park in Victoria and another Queensland property – the A$13-million Stapylton Distribution Centre, according to an announcement by Centennial at the time. 

The local fund manager said at the time that it planned to transform the properties into “institutional-grade multi-asset estates” with a combined value of A$201 million upon completion.

The two companies had worked together in 2020 to establish the Centennial Industrial & Logistics Portfolio Fund 1 (CILP1), an A$450 million set of nearly 20 urban infill and mid-sized industrial properties which KKR exited in a process begun in 2023.

The joint venture sold the last property from the CILP1 strategy, the Central West Distribution Centre in North St Mary’s in suburban Sydney, to Manulife Investment Management in 2025 for A$56 million ($35.4 million).