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May 2017

DRIP REIT acquires Kew Retail Park in Southport

May 2017

DRIP REIT acquires Kew Retail Park in Southport]

Aberdeen and Edinburgh based Drum Income Plus Real Estate Investment Trust (DRIP REIT) has acquired Kew Retail Park in Southport for £8.65 million taking the DRIP REIT portfolio to 10 regional UK investment properties with a gross asset value of £58 million.

The 53,858 square foot investment is currently occupied by Poundstretcher, Carpetright, Wickes, Carphone Warehouse, Dreams and Sofology. The purchase price reflects an acquisition yield of 8.78% and bolsters DRIP REIT’s presence in the North West, where it already has office investments in Cheadle and Manchester.

Welcoming the acquisition, DRIP REIT’s Chairman John Evans said: “By adding Kew Retail Park to the DRIP REIT portfolio we are maintaining the momentum that has been created since our first acquisition in August 2015. We are securing regional properties that fit with our differentiated investment strategy of focusing on assets between £2m and £15m which offer opportunities to add value.

“The positive yield differential that these assets enjoy over larger and more London and South East located assets persists, and we believe that the outlook for the regional property market in the UK remains strong, underpinned by high levels of occupational demand and a shortage of supply.

“Our experienced management team will continue to follow an asset management strategy that will drive rental growth and maximise additional income opportunities, offering investors an attractive blend of income return and capital growth.”

DRIP REIT is an income-focused real estate fund targeting regional commercial property assets, principally in the office, retail and industrial sectors where there is an opportunity to increase income and capital returns via entrepreneurial proactive asset management and risk-controlled development.

Drum Real Estate Investment Management’s Managing Director, Bryan Sherriff added: “This new addition at Southport provides us with geographical depth across sectors in the portfolio. We are fully engaged in delivering numerous value-added opportunities across the assets and are also paying a dividend ahead of what was stated in the initial prospectus.

“The asset management ethos is already delivering tangible results with significant valuation uplift across the portfolio in excess of £2 million.”

ESH advised Drum Income Plus REIT

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January 2017

ESH acquires DFS in Maidstone on behalf of Helix

ESH acquires DFS in Maidstone
on behalf of Helix

ESH has acquired a standalone
DFS unit in Maidstone on behalf Daily Mail Pension Fund (c/o Helix) from London
Metric for £11.973M, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.50%.

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December 2016

AXA IM – Real Assets have disposed of friary retail park in plymouth

AXA, advised by ESH, originally purchased the open A1 non-food retail park in 2009 for £11.5million and have since vastly improved the property fundamentals through extensive asset management.
AXA extended, sub-divided and re-let the former Wickes unit and developed additional space on the scheme. The overall annual income has improved to £1.7million with the new lettings and the scheme now provides an average weighted unexpired term of over 7 years including breaks. The retail park is fully let to multi-national operators Dunelm, Pets at Home, Hobbycraft, Poundstretcher, Smyths Toys, Poundland and Costa Coffee. ESH represented AXA on their disposal and the property was purchased by Plymouth City Council.

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November 2016

ESH advise Roebuck AM on retail warehouse sale

The Metric Income Plus Limited Partnership (MIPP), a joint venture between LondonMetric and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, has bought a B&Q warehouse in Hull and a Wickes warehouse in Dartford for £18.4m.

The deals reflect a blended net initial yield (NIY) of 6.8%.
The 71,000 sq ft B&Q store in Hull has been bought from Stobart Group and Roebuck Asset Management for £9.4 million, reflecting a NIY of 7.5%. The unit is let at £0.75 million p.a. with an unexpired lease term of 12 years.
The disposal is one of the last assets within the Moneypenny portfolio and now only two remain since Stobart Group’s acquisition in 2012.
The 40,000 sq ft Wickes retail warehouse in Dartford has been bought from a private investor for £9m. Simultaneous with the purchase, MIPP has granted a new 20 year lease to Wickes at a rent of £600,000 a year. The reflects a NIY of 6.2%.
MIPP was advised by Knight Frank on both deals and also by Beaton Associates on Dartford. Edgerley Simpson Howe represented Stobart and Roebuck.

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September 2016

Huddersfield Retail Park changes hands post Brexit – Sep ’16

BP Pension Fund purchased the freehold from Helical Bar in one of the few out of town retail investment deals agreed shortly after the Brexit vote. They paid £18,400,000 and achieved an initial ROI of 6.75%

It is the closest retail park to the town centre occupying a prominent location on the inner ring road. Benefitting from a fully open A1 retail planning consent, including food use, the Park is currently arranged as 6 stores with a total floor space of just under 100,000sqft. Occupiers include Aldi, Dunelm, B&M, Matalan, Poundstretcher and local multiple Wynsor Shoes. Unit sizes range from 6,000sqft to almost 30,000sqft and the average rental is about £13.50 psf. The Aldi lease containing some fixed rental uplifts.

ESH advised BP on the purchase

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July 2016

John Lyons Charity Sells Wincheap Retail Park, Canterbury for £11m

The park was sold for £11,000,000 after the charity regeared Boots’ lease for an additional 10 year term

The John Lyons Charity have disposed of their freehold interest in Wincheap Retail Park, Canterbury. The park was sold for £11,000,000 after the charity regeared Boots’ lease for an additional 10 year term, providing an overall WAULT of 6.75 years with no breaks. The 35,809 sq ft scheme is occupied by Boots, Mothercare, Argos and Carphone Warehouse and has an open A1 non-food planning consent. It is positioned on the south side of Canterbury City Centre, close to the A28/A2 intersection and adjacent to a Morrisons foodstore. The annual income of £744,344 shows the sale to reflect a net initial yield of 6.34%.

ESH acted for John Lyons Charity in both the regear and the sale.

January 2024

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January 2024

ESH represents Fund on sale of south-east foodstore investment

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December 2023

ESH advises on the sale of south-east retail park

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