Aviva Investors is selling a shopping centre that has been in its ownership for almost three decades in a bid to capitalise on a stock-starved market.
The fund manager is selling The Lanes, a 475,000 sq ft mall in Carlisle, Cumbria, for around £65m – a 7.5% yield.
Aviva said it was selling the shopping centre to rationalise the portfolio in which it sits.
A spokesman said: “We anticipate strong interest from a wide range of institutions, which will recognise the many opportunities that The Lanes presents.”
Shopping centre investment – like much of the market – has waned this year.
According to retail agent Briant Champion Long, the volume of shopping centre assets sold so far this year is more than 50% down on a year ago. It said that only £463m of sales had been transacted, compared with £1.1bn in the same period in 2011.
Charlie Barke, partner at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “This time in 2011, all the talk was of the great shopping centre sell-off. There were 25 schemes on the market at the start of May 2011, adding up to £1.5bn. At the start of May 2012, ignoring Meadowhall, there are going to be fewer than 10 schemes being openly marketed, and their combined values will amount to less than £300m.”
James Findlater, a director at BCL, added: “Prices achieved this year have averaged 15% less than quoting and in some instances have been 30% adrift. It’s perhaps unsurprising that we have seen a spike in unsold centres.”
Strutt & Parker is acting for Aviva.
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
