With an established footprint in Queensland and New South Wales, the move into Melbourne represents what managing director Lachlan O’Keeffe describes as “the natural progression of a business built to outperform.”
“We started our retail careers in Queensland over a decade ago and have built something incredibly strong in the retail space,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
“Two years ago we expanded into New South Wales; Victoria was always the next step. It was also largely driven by necessity as we were receiving a significant volume of enquiries from vendors seeking to list their retail assets in Victoria.”
“We recognised the need to appoint a dedicated head of Victoria to lead the team and properly service this important market. The stars aligned in terms of timing, opportunity and finding the right partner.”
That partner is Rick Silberman – one of Victoria’s most accomplished retail investment agents – who joins after a 12-year career that has seen him sell shopping centres above the $80 million mark and a plethora of huge retail names including KFCs, Bunnings, Kmarts, Woolworths, Coles and Officeworks.
For Mr Silberman, the move was about raising the bar in a market he believes deserves more.
“Victoria has been through a trying period and some challenging times,” Mr Silberman said.
“Despite this, retail has consistently proven to be one of the most sought after asset classes. In both strong and challenging market conditions, national retailers backed by long-term leases remain highly attractive investments”.
“Retail can be summed up in one word right now: resilient. Record yields are still being achieved across asset classes, and Melbourne vendors are operating from a position of strength. There’s no reason to settle for average outcomes”.
Mr Silberman’s track record includes the three sharpest fast food yields in Australia, with Red Rooster in Pascoe Vale at a 2.3 per cent yield – a national record, the KFC in Niddrie at 2.4 per cent, and the KFC in Thornbury at 2.77 per cent.
“Some of these fast-food investments traded at sub-3 per cent yields. That’s almost unheard of,” Mr Silberman said. “Those outcomes don’t happen by accident.”
He said one of the earliest conversations with Lachlan O’Keeffe, along with Partner & Head of QLD Michael Feltoe ultimately sealed the decision to join.
“The technology and systems really drew me in early on,” Mr Silberman said. “To be frank, that’s something that’s been lacking elsewhere. Everything had to be manually canvassed. Hearing that RWC Retail achieved 722 enquiries on the Hungry Jack’s Coopers Plains campaign – an Australian record – genuinely caught my attention.”
“I’ve never heard numbers like that from any campaign. On average they’re generating 300 enquiries per campaign. That’s extraordinary. Record enquiry doesn’t come out of nowhere – it comes from systems, databases and cutting-edge marketing.”
Mr Feltoe said that capability sits at the core of the group’s point of difference.
“We simply get more buyers,” Mr Feltoe said. “More enquiry drives more competition. More competition achieves higher prices. It’s that simple.”
“Too often we see stock-standard campaigns that don’t give vendors a return on their marketing investment. We are at the absolute cutting edge in how we engage buyers.”
Looking ahead, the leadership team is unapologetically ambitious about what the Victorian launch represents. “We are here to make Melbourne retail property perform as best as it possibly can,” Mr Silberman said.
Head of commercial at RWC James Linacre said the appointment signals a significant moment for the broader group.
“Rick’s record-breaking performances combined with RWC Retail’s systems and scale creates something that we are excited to watch unfold in Victoria,” Mr Linacre said. “Rick has made an excellent decision to partner with operators he is well-aligned with and we are thrilled to have him in our group.”
