Realty Income leads battle for Essex retail park

Realty Income is leading the race to buy the 207,000 sq ft Braintree Retail & Leisure Park in Essex, fighting off competition from Mike Ashley’s Frasers, British Land and Landsec. The scheme is being sold through CBRE on behalf of receivers for around £58m. US-based Realty has been heavily investing in the UK since its debut five years, snapping up supermarket investments and retail parks across the UK. Its most recent figures, for the six months to 30 June show it has invested almost $870m (£677m) into European real estate, the majority of which have been in the UK. Since debuting in the UK in 2019 with its £429m acquisition of a portfolio of Sainsbury’s stores from British Land, Realty Income has invested $11bn in Western Europe. Braintree Retail & Leisure Park, which comprises 20 units let to tenants including Halfords, SportsDirect, Bensons for Beds, Carpetright and Cineworld, also comes with a 10.6-acre development opportunity. The site sits alongside the Freeport Braintree Outlet Village and is owned by private investor Williams Group. The property has average unexpired lease term of 9.3 years and generates an annual passing rent of £4.4m.