In a market where investment deals appear to be thin on the ground, Redevco has concluded one of the year's most significant acquisitions by purchasing Glasgow's Princes Square Shopping Centre and the Guildhall Office Building from The Princes Square Consortium, a Hermes and Invista Real Estate joint venture. The purchase price was £107 million (c. €139m).
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Glasgow, Princes Square.
Princes Square is a Grade B listed building which extends to over 100,000 ft² and houses a five level shopping center situated on the prime pitch of Buchanan Street. It has 49 retail units with upmarket fashion retailers and eateries dominating the property. Retailers include Reiss, Womenswear, Oasis, Hugo, Links of London, Ted Baker, French Connection, Calvin Klein and Whistles. The retail element of the investment also includes premises on Buchanan Street and Queen Street, currently occupied by Office Holdings, Next and Fat Face Ltd.
The Guildhall on Queen Street provides 125,000 ft² of multi-let office accommodation and retail on the ground floor. The accommodation is arranged over seven floors around a full height central atrium. Occupiers include Clydesdale Bank plc. Royal Bank of Scotland, HBoS and News International.
Simon Smith, Managing Director of Redevco UK, said, "The acquisition of Princes Square fits Redevco UK's strategy of diversifying its retail holdings to include shopping centers."
Adam Starr, investment director of Redevco, said, "Princes Square is a landmark development in the heart of Glasgow's prime retailing pitch. The purchase fits well with our approach of acquiring property with very sound fundamentals where we can add value in the short to medium term."
Paul Wray of Hermes Real Estate and Subjit Jassy of Invista Real Estate, stated: "We are very pleased to have concluded this sale, which proves that investor appetite remains for prime retail assets like Princes Square that are located in major city centers, with a strong tenant line-up and good footfall which give the purchaser a an excellent basis from which to build in the future."
Paul Wray added: "The sale of Princes Square is part of Hermes Real Estate's strategy, announced on behalf of BTPS in March this year, to commit c. £700 million to an International Real Estate investment programme."
King Sturge represented Redevco, whilst DTZ in London acted for Hermes and Invista.
Source: REDEVCO
