Charter Hall Acquires $300 Million Brisbane Industrial Portfolio From Garda Property Group
Charter Hall Group confirmed Oct. 22 that a managed fund has acquired a $300 million portfolio of six Brisbane industrial properties from Garda Property Group, expanding the firm's exposure to established industrial precincts in Queensland.
The portfolio comprises approximately 90,600sqm of lettable area, or about 975,700 square feet, across the Brisbane precincts of Acacia Ridge, Wacol, Berrinba, Morningside and Richlands, Charter Hall said. The assets are predominantly modern industrial facilities and offer embedded rental reversion, with average passing rents below assessed market rents.
Charter Hall Brisbane Industrial Acquisition: Deal Details
The buyer is a Charter Hall-managed fund, and the seller is Garda Property Group. The $300 million price equates to roughly $3,311 per square metre, or about $308 per square foot, across the portfolio.
Tenant customers include Volvo, O'Brien Glass, CNW and Ausdeck. The portfolio has a weighted average lease expiry of 4.5 years and average annual rent increases of 3.4 per cent.
Most of the properties are scheduled to settle on Nov. 20, 2026. The Morningside transaction remains subject to due diligence and is expected to settle around March 2027.
Properties and Reported Consideration
Transaction reporting identifies seven properties or property interests tied to the sale, although Charter Hall describes the acquisition as six industrial properties. The reported consideration by precinct is as follows:
- Acacia Ridge: 38 Peterkin Street and 69 Peterkin Street, reported at a combined $68.5 million.
- Berrinba: an industrial property reported at $17.1 million.
- Richlands: a facility leased to Ausdeck, reported at $37.9 million.
- Wacol: the Volvo facility at 41 Bivouac Place, reported at $51.8 million and sitting on approximately 3.3 hectares, and Pinnacle West, reported at $44.0 million.
- Morningside: 326–340 Thynne Road, reported at $80.7 million.
Executives Outline Strategy
Charter Hall Industrial & Logistics CEO Richard Stacker said the acquisition reflects the platform's strategy to increase its exposure to high-quality Brisbane industrial assets.
"The growth in modern Brisbane industrial assets is presenting attractive acquisition opportunities, with pricing below replacement cost and positive rental reversion potential,"
Stacker said. He added: "This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to upweight our exposure to Brisbane and build scale in established industrial precincts where we see strong long-term fundamentals."
Stacker said that, together with recent acquisitions of prime industrial assets leased to Australia Post, Symbion and PrixCar, the platform has acquired approximately $500 million of prime Brisbane industrial assets over the past six months.
Charter Hall Managing Director and Group CEO David Harrison said the acquisitions continue the firm's long-term strategy of securing high-quality assets, often off-market, from vendors who value Charter Hall's execution capability and the capacity of its platform.
"Together with the recent expansion of our cross-sector platform in Queensland, these acquisitions will see Charter Hall's property funds under management in the state grow to approximately $15 billion," Harrison said.
Market Context
Brisbane's industrial market continues to draw demand from logistics, transport, manufacturing and last-mile distribution users. The acquired assets are concentrated in established southern and western industrial precincts.
JLL reported that prime southern Brisbane industrial net rents averaged $164 per square metre per year in the second quarter of 2026, up 1.0% year over year, although higher incentives caused effective rents to decline. Prime yields were reported at 5.50% to 6.00%, with a midpoint of 5.75%.
Garda is reportedly preparing to exit direct property ownership and redirect capital toward real estate lending. The portfolio's 4.5-year weighted average lease expiry means lease expiries may offer opportunities to reset rents toward market levels, while also exposing the owner to renewal and vacancy risk.
Charter Hall's Industrial & Logistics platform is valued at $24.9 billion.