Sentinel sees boom times ahead
October 2, 2020
Tony Raggatt, Townsville Bulletin
THE Sentinel property fund is continuing on the acquisition trail in North Queensland, looking at several properties in Townsville and Cairns and developing industrial sheds in Mackay.
The activity comes as the fund’s managing director, Warren Ebert, is even more bullish about the region post-COVID than he was before the pandemic.
Mr Ebert told Prime Site that regions like Townsville were faring better through the pandemic than capital cities and were well placed to recover faster by providing the better quality of life people were seeking.
He said people were spending more time at home were and were prepared to invest in them.
Also, North Queensland’s mining sector had an important role to play in keeping people in work and providing revenue for governments.
“North Queensland has a fantastic decade ahead of it. While most people would say Townsville is not booming, people here feel much more positive (than those in capital cities). Regional areas haven’t had the problems that the cities have had,” Mr Ebert said.
Sentinel has a big stake in the regions, holding some $120m worth of property at Mackay and almost $90m worth in Townsville.
Mr Ebert said they were conducting due diligence on two further potential property acquisitions in Townsville and developing an $8m warehouse facility in Mackay for a major industrial client, understood to be Bis Industries.
“We are still an active buyer up here,” he said. “We have invested $89m into Townsville and we would like it to be well over $100m by Christmas.”
Mr Ebert said irrespective of who won next month’s state election, the government would need the mining sector to succeed. “No one else is paying the royalties that will help run the country,” he said.
Sentinel acquired the four-level Stanley Street business centre in Townsville for about $10m earlier this year and owns the South Townsville complex which is Adani’s Townsville regional headquarters, the Central Plaza building in Flinders Street, and retail properties like the Woodlands neighbourhood centre.