Epping North Shopping Centre, an established neighbourhood centre located in the City of Whittlesea, described as one of Victoria’s fastest-growing local government areas, has been brought to market.

Stonebridge’s Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong, alongside JLL’s Stuart Taylor and Tom Noonan, have been exclusively appointed to manage the sale via an expressions of interest campaign.

Positioned on a 1.47-hectare freehold site with over 480 metres of retail frontage, the 5376sqm centre is anchored by a recently refurbished Woolworths supermarket, complemented by 16 specialty retailers. The centre is 99% leased and has exposure to more than 35,000 vehicles per day along the recently upgraded Epping Road. Its diversified daily-needs tenant mix includes medical, pharmacy, dental, butcher, and food services.

The asset is said to offer a highly attractive income profile with a weighted average lease expiry of 6.9 years by area, underpinned by Woolworths’ lease extending to 31 October 2034. All specialty tenants are subject to contractual annual rental increases averaging 4.5%.

Beyond its defensive income characteristics, the asset offers value-add opportunities in the form of an approximately 1500sqm underdeveloped pad site and the implementation of an embedded solar network.

The centre is said to be located within a rapidly expanding residential catchment. The City of Whittlesea’s population is forecast to grow by 56% by 2041, with over 53,200 new dwellings targeted for delivery across the municipality.

JLL Senior Director Stuart Taylor says Woolworths-anchored neighbourhood centres of this calibre are incredibly tightly held and rarely come to market in metropolitan Melbourne.

“We’re currently seeing a profound disconnect in Melbourne’s growth corridors: population is surging, yet the pipeline for new retail construction is historically tight. Epping North sits right at the intersection of this supply and demand imbalance,” he says.

“Owning a dominant, grocery-anchored asset in a catchment projected to grow by over 50% is a high-conviction growth strategy. Investors are securing a foothold in a structurally undersupplied market where future competition is highly restricted, which is why we expect significant interest from both institutional and private capital.”