Agents pick the most significant Deals (for the six months to the end of January 2016)
Linde Industrial Park, Merthyr Tydfil
Type of deal Freehold sale
Seller Linde Heavy Truck Division
Buyer General Dynamics UK
Size 236,000 sq ft on 57 acres
Price £5m-plus
Chosen by Chris Sutton, lead director, JLL (Cardiff)
The decision by the UK government to award General Dynamics a contract to manufacture and service up to 600 Ajax armoured vehicles for the British Army triggered a UK-wide search for a suitable, secure manufacturing site. The right site was, however, ultimately found just 10 miles from General Dynamics’ existing base in Oakdale, South Wales and, late in 2015, this sale secured that facility. Fundamental to it was the presence of an extensive heavy industrial fit-out related to Linde’s forklift business. This included overhead cranes and a paintshop that you can literally drive a tank into. Credit must go to the Linde management team which gave instructions to retain all fixtures and fittings, notwithstanding many offers to strip this out. This formed part of Linde’s aspiration to secure new investment in this community and it was rewarded by the creation of over 250 new, high-quality jobs in one of the more disadvantaged parts of South Wales.
Capitol Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Cardiff
Type of deal Investment
Purchaser NewRiver Retail
Size 167,000 sq ft
Value Part of the Neptune Portfolio acquisition totalling £92.3m
Chosen by Huw Thomas, director of retail, Cooke & Arkwright
NewRiver Retail’s recent purchase of Capitol Shopping Centre, as part of the wider Neptune Portfolio, is a welcome move for the city’s retail market. This is my favourite deal of the quarter as it shows confidence in the retail and leisure market in Cardiff and we know from NewRiver’s involvement with other shopping centres in Wales that the company’s approach to active asset management will give Capitol an exciting new identity and direction. It has long needed this in order to be more mindful of the city’s changing environment and NewRiver plans to focus on strong demand in the city centre for grab-and-go, restaurant and leisure operators. Capitol benefits from being close to an area of high student occupancy but far enough away from the city’s existing leisure and restaurant offerings to not compete directly. A new letting strategy will, therefore, also provide a new lease of life for the eastern side of Cardiff city centre.
St. David’s Park, Ewloe, Flintshire, North Wales
Type of deal Land disposals
Vendor Haigh Properties
Purchaser Anwyl Construction and Wales & West Housing
Size 3.5 acres
Price confidential
Chosen by Will Sadler, director, office agency, Legat Owen
I believe these disposals mark a return to significant office development in North Wales. Anwyl Construction and Wales & West Housing have acquired the plots to construct two sizeable office buildings of 15,000 and 20,000 sq ft respectively for their own occupation. Close to the border with England and adjacent to the A55, St David’s Park is a key location in North Wales and has become an exemplar of a mixed-use business park, as well as being home to FTSE 250 companies, Redrow and Moneysupermarket.com. The scale of these deals adds further momentum to a market that has already seen an improved uptake along the A55 corridor in the past 12 months – a series of deals at St Asaph and ParcMenai, near Bangor, which have, themselves, collectively helped to stimulate the first speculative development in North Wales for some years at New Vision Business Park, St Asaph.
Capital growth
Deloitte launched a search for a new 40,000 sq ft office in Cardiff as part of an expansion of its activities in the city. Cushman & Wakefield, meanwhile, was adding to its team in the Welsh capital.
Morfa morphs
AshbyCapital and Quadrant Estates announced plans for Swansea’s Morfa Retail Park, including an extension to the Next store – aided by a £53m loan facility agreed with Deutsche Hypo.
Increased activity
Cardiff’s office market was experiencing its highest levels of activity since 2007 according to figures from Knight Frank and Savills – and there were predictions of headline rents of £26.50 per sq ft during 2016.
Friars almost full
Queensberry Real Estate unveiled the 390,000 sq ft Friars Walk shopping centre in Newport at the end of 2015 – with 90% let.
Swansea partners
Swansea council selected Rivington Land and Trebor Developments as development partners for two sites that will between them will provide retail and leisure space, an arena and a “city waterfront” scheme.
Caught on the tide
Construction of the £1bn tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay was delayed by a year amid a government review of the export potential of the technology and a continuation of subsidy talks
EG gauges the trials and tribulations of the Wales property market
