British Land has confirmed its purchase of Mayflower Retail Park on the edge of Basildon town centre, Essex, from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.
Yesterday, Estates Gazette reported that BL would buy the 153,000 sq ft retail park from SWIP for around £51m – a 6.3% yield.
Current retailers in the park include Homebase, Currys, Harveys and Mothercare.
In return, SWIP is buying the 135,000 sq ft Valley Plaza leisure park in Croydon from British Land for £28m – representing a net initial yield of 7.1%. It is anchored by Vue Cinemas and other tenants include Gym4all and Nando’s.
Charles Maudsley, head of Retail at British Land, said: “This is another attractive acquisition for British Land which is in line with our strategy of recycling capital into assets with higher rental and value growth prospects.
“Mayflower is a popular trading location where rents are affordable and retailers trade well.
“By refreshing and modernising the park, we believe there are significant opportunities to attract new retailers to the scheme and grow rents.
“Along with Eastgate Shopping Centre in the heart of Basildon, we now own the town’s two most dominant retail assets where we anticipate future growth.”
Harvey Spack is advising British Land; Edgerley Simpson Howe is advising SWIP.
nathan.cross@estatesgazette.com
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