COLLIERS has bolstered its retail valuation business in Melbourne with the appointment Trent Weir as national director.
Weir will work closely with Luke Mortimer and Andrew Johnston and joins from CBRE, bringing more than 14 years’ experience valuing all property types with a specific focus on regional, sub-regional, neighbourhood shopping centres and large format retail across Australia.
“I am extremely excited to join Colliers International and become part of this well regarded Valuation and Advisory team. It is no doubt an interesting time in the retail market and I am privileged to be able to provide expert advice to shopping centre owners, buyers and financiers.” Weir said.
In addition to Weir’s valuation experience, he has also recently worked as a real estate agent selling shopping centres in Victoria, with some recent notable transactions being Tooronga Village for $63 million on behalf of Stockland, Brimbank shopping centre for $150 million on behalf of Blackstone and Burwood One shopping centre for $180 million on behalf of the Hansky family.
Colliers has also added to its Melbourne City Sales team with the appointment of Leon Ma as associate director, Asia markets and investment services.
Ma also joins from CBRE where he was a senior negotiator for three years.
Gabriel Zhang has also joined the team in the position of analyst. He previously worked at MAI Capital as a senior research analyst and prior to that, as a research analyst at ICD Property.
National director Daniel Wolman said the two key strategic appointments continued the ongoing growth of Colliers’ Melbourne City Sales team.
“More and more local add-value players are competing for high quality middle market assets within the Melbourne CBD. The shortage of stock has also led to institutional players entering the $10 million – $100 million price bracket traditionally not looked at by institutions.
“These trends are likely to continue throughout 2020. The extremely tight nature of middle market assets within the Melbourne CBD, coupled with the record low cash rate and positive investment sentiment, will continue to fuel and provide a strong foundation for 2020.”
Wolman said the emergence of build-to-rent development and fund-through transactions would also continue in 2020, becoming increasingly prevalent in the CBD.” Wolman said.
