With returns from retail assets hitting a five year high, a number of high-profile deals have recently been completed. One of the latest is the acquisition of Bramley Shopping Centre by Rockspring Property Investment Managers.
The west Leeds shopping centre was placed on the market by NewRiver Retail, with the resulting deal netting the property investment firm £18.5 million. In total, the shopping centre contains 121,342 sq ft of commercial space across 54 units and the sale price was said to be around 1.4 per cent higher than the year end valuation conducted in March 2014.
Property director at NewRiver Retail, Allan Lockhart, says; “The sale of Bramley Shopping Centre is an excellent example of NewRiver’s ability to source and acquire retail real estate with significant enhancement opportunities and use our active asset management expertise to increase its value.
“We are delighted with the performance of the asset and in line with our proven business strategy we look forward to recycling the surplus capital generated into new and exciting projects.”
Bramley Shopping Centre was first acquired by NewRiver Retail in 2010 as part of a portfolio of five shopping centres, known as the CReAM portfolio. Since then, it has managed to complete 20 new lettings, lease re-gears and renewals with national brands such as the Post Office, Pizza Hut and the Co-Operative Pharmacy as well as securing an uplift in a recent rent review with anchor tenant Tesco.
With Bramley Shopping Centre a seemingly strong investment for new owner Rockspring, the question is how the firm will build upon the strong foundations created by NewRiver Retail.
The current trend is for owners of shopping centres to invest in redevelopment to create additional space for leisure facilities – yet with competition extremely strong in the Leeds market from powerhouse Trinity Leeds, perhaps a little thinking outside the box will be required in order to make this contender truly stand out.
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