Seasoned retail agent Barry O’Donnell is setting up a new advisory practice alongside former Cushman & Wakefield colleagues Fergus Jack and Ollie Chapman.
The business, called CBD Urban, will focus on reviving and repurposing brownfield sites in London and the South East. This would include mixed-use development projects at existing shopping centres.
Jack and Chapman were both part of the residential investment and private rented sector team at Cushman. Jack was a partner, while Chapman was an associate director. Both are also qualified receivers.
The trio will be partners at the new firm, which will launch later this week.
O’Donnell was head of UK shopping centre investment at Cushman before he left the business.
The new venture signposts the direction that the shopping centre investment market has shifted towards in recent times.
More investors and asset managers are increasingly seeking to convert uses at beleaguered retail assets that can tap into strong transport links and proximity to residential areas, while allowing them to diversify revenue streams.
Meanwhile the retail environment continues to bite. Many industry experts estimate hundreds of shopping centres are under severe debt pressure, exacerbated by declining market values and the rising number of company voluntary arrangements among occupiers.
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