Europa Capital and its joint venture partner Ediston Real Estate have forward sold Plymouth Gateway Retail Park to Royal London Mutual Insurance Society for €25.2m (£22.7m), reflecting a yield of 5.9%. The 55,000ft² retail warehouse park, which is currently under construction, is fully pre-let to Wren Kitchens, Tapi Carpets, Sofology, Mothercare, KFC and Costa, and is due to be completed in September 2018. Europa and Ediston received strong tenant interest for the development in a supply restricted market, achieving rents of between €24.4 (£22) and €27.7 (£25) per ft² per annum for the terraced units.
James Fortescue, Partner at Europa Capital, said: "This forward sale to Royal London represents another good result for the Europa/Ediston joint venture within Europa Fund IV as institutional investors recognise the quality of our developments and the fruits of our commitment to each scheme. The successful pre-letting of Plymouth Gateway well ahead of practical completion further underlines our belief that the right product will perform in different sectors, even in the face of adverse sentiment in the case of retail."
Andy McKinlay of Ediston added: "Despite what appears to be challenging times for the retail occupier market, we have still experienced strong demand across the Europa/Ediston retail warehouse portfolio. Plymouth Gateway is a prime example of this. The Park is expected to be fully developed by September 2018 allowing the tenants to fit out and occupy as quickly as possible.”
Mike Lawrence, Royal London's Head of Retail, commented: "Plymouth Gateway is an excellent acquisition for RLMIS and is in line with the Fund’s objectives of acquiring best in class assets within demographically strong locations across the UK."
