CCLA Investment Management, a specialist fund manager for charities, churches and local authorities, has completed the £32m purchase of a retail park in Brighton from Aviva Investors.
As previously revealed by EG, the deal to buy Pavilion Retail Park reflected a net initial yield of 5.5%. CCLA bought the asset on behalf of the COIF Charities Property Fund.
The scheme, which measures 76,827 sq ft, has been refurbished and is fully let to Aldi, B&Q, Halfords, Hobbycraft and Costa, generating a passing rent of £1.89m per annum.
Aldi paid its former landlord a reverse premium of £875,000 to secure its store at the site.
The retail park has a catchment of more than 460,000 people, which is above the regional centre average.
The redevelopment of the nearby Preston Barracks site by U&I and Brighton and Hove City Council will create an additional 369 new homes and 1,338 student beds, along with further leisure facilities and amenities adjacent to the retail park.
Mark Dansky, partner at Allsop, which acted for CCLA, said: “The purchase is an excellent opportunity to invest in a highly sought-after retail park in an area that has a limited supply of retail warehouses, underpinned by alternative use potential.
“These strong fundamentals meant this was the most prime retail warehouse scheme sold so far in 2019 and created significant market interest.”
CCLA is one of the UK’s largest charity fund managers. It has some £8bn of assets under management, according to company literature.
Avison Young acted for Aviva.
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