Hunter Real Estate Investment Managers (‘Hunter’) completed a second round of purchases in its Hunter UK Retail Trust. Comprising approximately £8m (€10.3m), the latest acquisitions take total spending in the closed-end vehicle to £22m (€28.4m) since its launch over the summer.
The fund acquired a 34,000ft² (3,160m²) high street retail parade on Foregate Street, Chester, for around £6.5m (€8.4m). Chester aligns with the fund’s strategy to invest in blocks of underutilised assets situated in desirable high street-led locations across the UK.
Hunter also purchased 9-13 Westgate Street in Ipswich for around £2m (€2.6m). The asset is currently let to Claire’s Accessories, the accessories and jewellery brand, and tReds, the quality shoes and trainers retailer. The asset adjoins the fund’s existing holding in Ipswich, a £2m (€2.6m), 5,478ft² (508m²) unit, purchased in November 2015. Three high street units in Norwich and a single unit in Edinburgh city centre were also acquired as part of the vehicle’s first round of acquisitions.
Andrew Moffat, fund manager at Hunter commented: “This latest round of acquisitions demonstrates our selective ‘deal by deal’ approach, which ensures that we choose the very best assets to align with our overall fund strategy. We firmly believe that, far from terminal decline, there are still significant opportunities for consistent returns on the high street in the right pockets around the UK. The deals in Chester and Ipswich are a clear reflection of this and further cement our growing portfolio of well located, value-add assets.”
