St Ives Shopping Village Sells for $450 Million

For the first time in over 40 years, St Ives Shopping Village has changed ownership, selling for $450 million.

By Lucy Pearson

One of Australia’s most tightly held retail assets has officially changed hands, with St Ives Shopping Village selling for $450 million in a landmark deal that marks the largest neighbourhood shopping centre transaction in Australian history.

The acquisition sees property group, Iris Capital, enter the retail ownership market for the first time, purchasing the prominent Sydney Upper North Shore centre along with 12 adjoining properties. The deal represents a major strategic move for the group, led by billionaire developer Sam Arnaout, as it looks to establish a large-scale retail platform focused on dominant metropolitan shopping centres.

Located in one of Sydney’s wealthiest catchments, St Ives Shopping Village has long been regarded as one of the country’s highest-performing neighbourhood retail centres. The 17,475-square-metre asset is anchored by three supermarkets and home to more than 100 tenants, including retailers, restaurants and essential services. The centre generates an annual turnover of approximately $264 million and has ranked first nationally in Shopping Centre News’ Mini Guns performance report for 20 consecutive years.

The sale also marks the end of an era for vendor EK Nominees, the Katz family-owned group that acquired the centre in 1986 before gradually expanding its footprint through neighbouring properties along Mona Vale Road and Denley Lane. The asset was first brought to market in 2022 and attracted significant investor interest amid continued demand for resilient retail assets.

For Iris Capital, the acquisition is being positioned as a long-term play, with plans to enhance the centre’s retail offering while exploring future mixed-use opportunities.

“We are pleased to complete the acquisition of St Ives Shopping Village, a generational asset of exceptional quality,” Iris Capital chief executive Sam Arnaout said.

“With settlement now complete, our focus is on building on the legacy of the centre while continuing to evolve the precinct in line with the needs of its community.”

Arnaout said the centre had long been viewed by the group as the ideal entry point into the Australian retail ownership sector, particularly given the undersupply of retail floorspace across the surrounding catchment and increasing demand for future residential development in the area.

Industry analysts say the transaction reflects ongoing competition for high-performing retail assets, particularly supermarket-anchored centres with strong local demographics and consistent turnover growth. Despite broader economic uncertainty, investor appetite for premium retail property has remained resilient, supported by stable yields and expectations of future interest rate cuts.

The deal was brokered by Colliers, which described the transaction as a “generational handover” between private ownership groups.

“Assets of this quality are rarely traded,” said Lachlan MacGillivray, managing director of Asia Pacific retail capital markets at Colliers.

“The sale of St Ives Shopping Village further reinforces strong market demand for irreplaceable retail assets.”

The transaction adds to a wave of major retail property deals completed across Australia over the past year, including the sales of Westpoint Blacktown, Macquarie Centre and Northland Shopping Centre, as institutional and private investors continue to compete for large-format retail assets in key metropolitan markets.

Iris Capital is now actively pursuing further acquisitions as it looks to expand its retail portfolio nationally.