Gibraltar Limited Partnership — a fifty-fifty joint venture between the Crown Estate and Hercules Unit Trust — has sold Leamington Shopping Park for £72m.
The Warwickshire centre, which boasts a near 100 per cent occupancy rate after an extensive 2009 refurbishment, has been acquired by Ignis UK Property Fund.
“We have realised significant value at Leamington Shopping Park by transforming it into an attractive and successful shopping destination,” explained Charles Maudsley, of the park’s property adviser British Land.
Original businesses on the 18 unit site included the DIY chain Focus, MFI, Harveys and soft furnishing and bedding retailer Rosebys. Last October Debenhams opened a department store and Caffe Nero launched its first out-of-town cafe at the park alongside other traders such as Outfit, Next, New Look, Mamas & Papas, Boots, Clarks and a Frankie & Benny’s restaurant.
“The retail park’s added value has been recognised by the market and this £72m sale demonstrates both the strong UK institutional demand for the right type of product and confidence in the prospects for the retail occupational market,” Maudsley said.
George Shaw is investment director at Ignis Real Estate and lead manager of the Ignis UK Property Fund. “We are delighted to have acquired such a high quality asset which offers further opportunity through asset management to increase and enhance the income profile and returns,” he said. “Leamington Shopping Park will prove a valuable addition the fund’s portfolio.”
The former joint owners of the retail site are both heavy hitters within the property market. The Crown Estate, which last year made more than £240m profit, is one of the largest property owners in the United Kingdom with a portfolio worth £8.1bn; almost half of that tied up in urban and commercial holdings.
Hercules Unit Trust, based in Jersey, is the UK’s largest specialist retail warehouse property unit trust with a portfolio of £1.5bn. It currently owns or part-owns 19 retail and shopping parks, including Glasgow’s Fort Shopping Park and a half-share in Fort Kinnaird Shopping Park in Edinburgh, with effect control of around 4.5msq ft of retail space.
