B&M Retail have taken a new 10 year lease on the Homebase unit and Matalan have re-geared their lease for an additional 10 year term at Wolstanton Retail Park in Stoke.

ESH act for Aberdeen Standard.

AEW sell out of short income Retail Park in Hull

ESH marketed and sold Stoneferry Retail Park in Hull on
behalf of AEW. The sale price was £1.8 million and the park was fully let and
producing income of £228,591 per annum for approximately a further 5 months.
DSG and Bensons for Beds both have leases expiring in May 2019 and a Burger
King franchisee was secured on a lease expiring in April 2029 at a rent of
£63,500.

Scarborough Borough Council has completed its first acquisition since adopting a new commercial property investment strategy.

ESH can reveal that the council has purchased the Travelodge Hotel in central Scarborough for £14m from a UK charity.

The 140-room hotel on St Nicholas Cliff is located above the town’s South Bay. It is let to Travelodge for an unexpired term of almost 30 years with five yearly rent reviews. Following September’s rent review, the price reflects a net return of 5.9%.

Richard Bradley, Scarborough Borough Council’s commercial director, said: “This is our first major investment since adopting our commercial property investment strategy earlier in the year. The strategy focuses on acquiring commercial property investments that can result in positive financial returns for the council to help support our public service delivery. The purchase of the Travelodge Hotel building was an ideal opportunity for us and we will continue to seek other investment opportunities going forward.”

Scarborough Borough Council was advised by Edgerley Simpson Howe and NJB Hotel & Leisure Property. It is the latest council to invest in commercial property.

Data exclusively compiled for Property Week found that councils’ spending spree totalled £994m between January and June, and Scarborough’s acquisition will further add to the total that is expected to beat last year’s £1.8bn figure by the year-end.

Castlefields Retail Park has been sold by Blackrock to Tesco Pension Fund. The scheme is anchored by a B&Q, tenants also include Tapi, M&S, Dunelm, Pets At Home, and Pizza Hut and extends to over 111,000 sq ft. The price paid is £25.75 million reflecting 6% niy. ESH acted for Blackrock.

Teesside Pension Fund Purchase in Congleton

Congleton Retail Park, the only retail park in Congleton,
was purchased by Teesside Pension Fund (advised by CBRE Capital Advisors
Limited) for £15.09 million reflecting 6.50% net initial yield.

The scheme totals approximately 65,000 sq ft across 10 units
let to M&S Simply Food, B&M, Halfords, Laura Ashley, Shoe Zone, Boots,
Jollyes, Bensons for Beds, Topps Tiles and Carphone Warehouse with passing
rents of between £14 and £20 per sq ft. The overall WAULT is over 3.5 years
with no breaks and a number of tenants are looking to regear or upsize. The
park has a full open A1, including food, planning consent.

ESH
advised Teesside Pension Fund on the purchase.

Aberdeen Standard Investments Sell Hollywood Retail Park,
Barrow following Aldi pre-let

With the pre-let Aldi deal in place Aberdeen Standard
Investments have sold their Retail Warehouse and Leisure holding in
Barrow-in-Furness. The new letting provided an overall WAULT of over 8.5 years
with almost 7.5 years to breaks and Aldi will sit alongside other retail
tenants Dunelm, Currys/PC World and TK Maxx. The scheme also provides a food
and leisure offering in the form of Majestic Bingo, Nuffield Health, Vue, KFC,
Pizza Hut and McDonalds.

New River REIT purchased from Aberdeen Standard for £15.35
million showing a return in the region of 8%. At the time of sale DSG were
holding over and had not regeared.

ESH advised Aberdeen Standard Investments on the sale.