Ediston Property Investment Company (EPIC) has started construction on a 48,000ft² retail park and petrol filling station in Haddington, East Lothian. Haddington is a growing commuter town located 18 miles to the east of Edinburgh. The Haddington Retail Park, which is adjacent to several new housing developments, is 97% pre-let to national retailers Aldi, Home Bargains, The Food Warehouse, Costa Coffee and Euro Garages. One unit of 1,500ft² is available to lease, but EPIC anticipates this will be let prior to completion. The development is expected to take 11 months, with practical completion scheduled for June 2021.
Once completed and fully occupied, the retail park will provide a rental income of €964,582 (£875,000) per annum and will have a weighted average unexpired lease term of 14.4 years – assuming the vacant unit is let for a term of five years.
Calum Bruce, investment manager, commented: “We are delighted to commence development of this convenience-led retail park. This is a sub-sector of the retail market which has proved to be resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, as consumer behaviours have further shifted towards convenience-led, accessible shopping. This asset complements our development programme, which is expected to deliver €1.2m (£1.1m) of additional income in the next 12 months – increasing the net income for shareholder distribution.”
