Wodonga Plaza shopping centre sold to Sydney-based property group

In an off-market deal, a subsidiary of Sydney-based Argus Property Partners Group has bought the centre from Western Australian-based M/Group.

The sale price is subject to confidentiality agreements between the parties.

But, Argus Property executive director Braith Williams confirmed the purchase, the company's first foray into Victoria.

"We have a strategy of focusing on retail and in particular regional retail," he said.

"We've had a couple of cracks at Victorian retail assets, but this is the first one we've acquired.

"We do like Wodonga and we like Wodonga Plaza because it is the only centre on that side of the river that has a large offering retailers with an internal mall.

"We will be working pretty hard on the presentation of the centre and introducing some new tenancies as well."

Other commercial property owned by Argus include shopping centres at Bathurst and in south-east Queensland as well as office-warehouse buildings in Sydney.

One of its most recent acquisitions was the HomeCo shopping centre in Queensland's Moreton Bary area in May this year for $28.85 million.

The sale of Wodonga Plaza by former owners Vicinity Centres in 2017 coincided with the closure of the Safeway supermarket after Woolworths opened a larger store on the corner of High Street and Elgin Boulevard.

It had been owned by Vicinity since 2000.

The centre underwent a $2 million redevelopment in early 2018 with clothing and and accessories retailer Best&Less moving into part of the area formerly occupied by the Safeway supermarket.

The plaza was built on the former Wodonga saleyards site and opened in 1982 with a Target store and a small number of speciality shops.

It was extended in 1995.

Wodonga Plaza sits on about 4.4 hectares with gross lettable area of more than 17,200 square metres.

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