Aussie Shed Surge Continues with $87M Gateway Portfolio Disposal

A surge in Australian industrial deals which has seen trades of workshops and warehouses jump by 38 percent in the opening months of this year has marked another milestone with Gateway Capital selling a logistics portfolio for a combined A$135 million ($86.7 million).

The investment manager backed by the UK’s Grosvenor Group has sold the collection of five properties across Queensland and Victoria states to a mix of private and institutional investors, according to sources who spoke with Mingtiandi, with property fund manager Irongate picking up an industrial estate in Hemmant, Queensland for A$46.6 million as the largest deal in the batch.

“Supported with strong institutional capital and with a clear strategy of value-add through targeted asset management, we are delighted with the results that we’ve been able to deliver on this portfolio,” Gateway co-founder and chief executive Stuart Dawes told Mingtiandi. “This reflects our strong focus on driving value at the asset level through active and agile management.”

Launched in 2021, Gateway sold the five assets to close out its first partnership. Two additional properties, one in Melbourne and another in the suburb of Thornleigh on Sydney’s upper north shore, were carried over to a new vehicle which has been recapitalised for an expanded strategy, according to an account last week by The Australian.

Mid-Sized Assets Find New Owners

Gateway disposed of the portfolio through an on-market process conducted by Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers. In a statement, Tony Iuliano, head of logistics and industrial for Australia and New Zealand at Cushman & Wakefield linked the sales to the appeal of mid-sized industrial assets and the expertise of Gateway’s team.

“These results reaffirm the strength and liquidity of the $20 to $50 million market segment – where private capital and owner-occupiers remain highly active, undeterred by macroeconomic headwinds,” Iuliano said. “Gateway Capital’s disciplined strategy and execution offer a clear case study in how to unlock value and capitalise on demand in Australia’s premium industrial corridors.”

Together the five properties span 57,215 square metres (615,857 square feet) of gross lettable area, with Cushman & Wakefield attributing the portfolio’s appeal to premium locations, asset enhancements and staggered lease profiles which “delivered an attractive risk-return proposition in tightly held logistics corridors.”

Irongate, which is backed by South Africa’s Burstone Group acquired the Gateway to Hemmant industrial estate at 227-247 Fleming Road for the equivalent of A$3,061 per square metre. With 15,223 square metres of gross lettable area leased to multiple tenants, the property 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) east of Brisbane’s central business district occupies a 6.5 hectare site (16 acre site).

The other Queensland assets are a set of neighbouring properties in Brisbane’s southern suburb of Acacia Ridge with 163 Ingram Road selling for A$28.5 million, or A$1,615 per square metre. 149-157 Jackson Road in Acacia Ridge sold for A$17 million while 189 Ingram Road also found a buyer at A$17 million.

In Victoria, an unnamed buyer paid A$26.1 million, or the equivalent of A$3,701 per square metre, to acquire 97-103 Boundary Road in Laverton North, a suburb 19 kilometres west of Melbourne’s central business district. 

Fronting Hume Road as well as Laverton Road, that property consists of three separate facilities offering a combination of ambient and cold chain logistics together with showroom space.

The Victoria sale was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield’s Iuliano together with Chris Jones, Adrian Rowse, and Charlie Holmes, according to a statement from the brokerage. Iuliano worked together with Rowse as well as colleagues Gary Hyland and Morgan Ruig to sell the Queensland assets in  conjunction with Colliers.

Representatives of Gateway, Irongate and Colliers had yet to reply to inquiries from Mingtiandi by the time of publication.

Gateway Surfs Deal Wave

Investors have signed up to purchase A$2.6 billion in Australian logistics properties so far in 2025, up 38 percent from the A$1.9 billion in deals recorded through the same point last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Gateway, which is led Dawes together with co-founder and chief investment officer Peter McDonald has completed the sale of its eastern seaboard portfolio after the company in February teamed up with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Korea Investment Corporation to purchase a Sydney logistics estate from Brookfield Asset Management for A$330 million.

Dawes and McDonald, who led Sydney-based real estate investment manager Propertylink before ESR bought out the ASX-listed firm in 2018 in a deal that valued it at A$723.4 million (then $522.51 million), have targetted acquisitions of assets in the smaller end of the institutional investment range as part of a value-add strategy.

In addition to its relationship with Grosvenor, Gateway in 2023 established a partnership with the Ontario Teaches Pension Plan’s Cadillac Fairview division with the goal of establishing an A$1 billion logistics portfolio.