Development Securities has acquired the Borough Parade shopping centre in Chippenham from a joint venture partnership between Clearbell Capital LLP and Tristan Capital Partners.
Development Securities paid a little over of £16 million for the 87,000 sq ft centre, which currently boasts Waitrose and New Look as its anchor tenants. Other tenants include Argos, The Body Shop and Thornton’s, along with a number of independent boutiques.
Jeremy Bullock, director of portfolio and asset management at Tristan Capital Partners, believes the partnership has chosen the right time to sell Borough Parade.
He says; “The pickup in UK retail values, which has spread to the secondary markets as the broader economic recovery has gathered momentum, along with the added value of significant asset management improvements, provided an opportune time to sell as we had comfortably achieved our return targets.”
Borough Parade was the largest asset within the joint venture’s partnership, which currently contains 29 office, retail and industrial properties. The last few years have seen this portfolio shrink considerably, with the improving investment market allowing the partnership to divest assets as a means of investing into new ventures.
Since taking over Borough Parade, the joint venture has managed to significantly boost footfall, with the 55,000 visitors passing through each week comfortably higher than the national average. In part, this is due to the asset management programme implemented by the partnership, which saw new tenants such as O2, Caffe Nero and Clarks take up units within the centre.
In addition, this programme also secured Waitrose as an anchor, with the upmarket supermarket brand taking up a 5,000 sq ft unit in a prime position within the centre. Public realm and branding developments played an important role in the strategy, which has increased the centre’s value exponentially and allowed the joint venture to make strong returns on its initial investment.
Clearbell Capital LLP asset management director, Dominic Moore, says; “It’s always pleasing to see the positive impact of hard working asset management.
“We’ve been able to make some big changes at Borough Parade which not only improved the shopping centre but the town of Chippenham more generally.
“At the same time we have successfully raised the value of the asset, and this sale represents an important move in the selling down of this attractive portfolio.”
With the centre already fully let and with a strong tenant mix and high footfall, it seems the new owner has time to think through its asset management strategy whilst still gaining a strong annual income.
