Three retail sales: Leicester, Nottingham, Tonbridge

Forsters rings up three retail sales worth £56m

Forsters has completed three significant retail sales for long-term client Invista Real Estate Investment Management, and funds under its management owned by Clerical Medical.  The properties in Nottingham, Tonbridge and Leicester were sold for a total of approximately £56m. 

According to Howard Gill, Forsters’ head of property, the deals represent encouraging, albeit limited, signs of activity in the retail property market. He said: 

“Whilst market conditions remain difficult, we are seeing an appetite for certain types of retail property.”

In Leicester, Haymarket Towers shopping centre was sold to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Property Trust for approximately £26m. The parade, which totals 88,000 sq ft of shops and produces £2.4m pa in income, houses tenants including Barclays Bank, Marks & Spencer, New Look, JJB, Field & Trek and Superdrug.  Glenn Dunn at Forsters acted for Invista, while Alistair Kennedy and Marcus Devanny at the London office of Dundas & Wilson acted for the purchasers.

The second property, in Lister Gate, Nottingham, was sold by Invista on behalf of Clerical Medical Investment Group also to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Property Trust.  The property, which is occupied by New Look Retailers Limited, was sold for approximately £15m.  Ronan Ledwidge at Forsters acted for the sellers, and Alistair Kennedy and Nick Winslet at the London office of Dundas & Wilson again acted for the purchasers.

The third property, a supermarket site at The Botany in Tonbridge which is occupied by Waitrose and Iceland, was sold for £15.2m to a private family trust.  Ronan Ledwidge at Forsters again acted for Clerical Medical Investment Group, while John Spencer and Vicky Stanborough at Hamlins acted for the purchasers.