Carlisle shopping centre to be sold from receivership

The Lanes shopping centre in Carlisle is up for sale from receivership for offers over £15.7m, reflecting a net initial yield of 11.6% and a capital value of £36 per sq ft. Savills has been appointed to market the long leasehold on behalf of receivers at Cushman & Wakefield. The property had been owned by F&C REIT, which bought it in a £65m deal with Area Property Partners in 2012. The property spans 437,331 sq ft and generates a net operating income of almost £2m annually. It has a weighted average unexpired lease term of 7.32 years and key tenants include Primark, Next, Superdrug, New Look, River Island, Costa Coffee and Lush. Anchor tenant Primark has signed for another 16 years at the centre. Opportunities for asset management also include reletting the 107,848 sq ft former Debenhams store space. Toby Ogilvie Smals, retail investment director at Savills, said: “The offering of The Lanes comes at a favourable time in the UK retail investment market. There are definitely more motivated buyers in the market than we have seen for some time. “Investment volumes are recovering in line with confidence in retail and the desire to capitalise on record high yields. “We are optimistic that there will be high levels of interest in The Lanes as it offers a rare opportunity to acquire an asset with a high-quality tenant mix alongside attractive asset management opportunities to drive the asset forward.” See occupational sale comparables in Carlisle >>