Metro Shopping Fund, the retail joint venture between Delancey and Land Securities, is prepping the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth, SW18, for sale.
It is expected that the 630,000 sq ft shopping centre will attract bids in excess of £300m, which would reflect a circa 4.2% yield.
The fund has appointed Lunson Mitchenall to advise on the sale. It also acts as leasing agent on the shopping centre, alongside CWM. Formal marketing is expected to start before the end of March.
Delancey and Land Securities purchased Southside in 2005, paying £188m to a joint venture between Portfolio Holdings, Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Deutsche Bank Real Estate’s Global Opportunities Fund. A sale at the price anticipated would see a sizeable return.
The pair have revitalised Southside’s tenant mix through refurbishment and asset management over the past four years. They have invested almost £40m and developed an extension which includes an 82,000 sq ft Debenhams and eight further shops.
The shopping centre’s occupancy is now almost 100% after securing Decathlon for a 7,000 sq ft shop on a 10-year lease at the end of last year. It is one of 25 signed up by the landlords over the course of their ownership.
The fund’s last sale was Notting Hill Gate Estate shopping centre in West London and the N1, now known as Angel Central, shopping centre in Islington, N1, which they sold for a combined £240m in 2010.
Shopping centre investment hit £4.3bn last year and 86 assets were traded, according to research from Savills, as investors took advantage of the hot market.
However, around a dozen failed to sell. This year, Savills expect between £4bn-5bn to be traded.
Metro Shopping Fund declined to comment.
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